The design of a school plays an important role in supporting students as they begin their journey as life-long learners. Our learning environments provide for differentiated instruction, curriculum innovation, and changes in pedagogy. Together with our district and stakeholder partners , we facilitate smart decisions about how your building is configured, identify appropriate program adjacencies, and recommend furnishings, technologies, and building systems that facilitate inspired learning. We design modern classrooms, large and small group break out areas, one-on-one teaching spaces, and systems to enable remote learning. All the while keeping the needs of students, teachers, and administrators at the forefront.

Successful projects are those that find the right balance between requirements and aspirations. To achieve this, our approach includes continual communication  with stakeholders to understand a community’s specific educational goals and the role the school will play in the lives of families and other residents, creating a shared vision for the project. Transparent, frequent, and respectful communication enables stakeholders to feel “heard,” helping to build consensus and buy-in.

Delivering value is central to RDA’s design philosophy and a great point of pride for us. Our design solutions consider not only the up-front capital costs of a project but also future operational impacts and maintenance requirements.  We always design with a “50+-year building” mindset, focusing on durability, sustainability, and flexibility, with a continual focus on life cycle cost analysis. Please see our case studies for additional information about some of our achievements related to schedule and budget discipline.

The process of determining whether or not to invest in a new/renovated school can lead to a broader review of a community’s entire PreK-12 system. Are there advantages to consolidating? Does a grade reconfiguration make sense? We know these can be sensitive conversations. RDA has the expertise and wisdom to navigate this process with residents and families in a way that makes these conversations productive and supportive. 

RDA assists communities explore these issues from both programmatic and cost perspectives.  As one example, we were hired to design a large PreK-3 Elementary School. Our ‘global analysis’ mindset led us to voluntarily assess its other intermediate and middle schools. Ultimately, RDA helped the district make use of available space in two other schools in order to modify its district-wide grade configuration and substantially reduce the square footage of the project we had been hired to implement. This saved the town millions in design, construction, and future operational costs. In other communities, we use our expertise to facilitate the difficult decision to consolidate multiple schools based on our analysis of the educational benefits associated in doing so.

We believe learning happens everywhere, and that the site surrounding a school can and should serve students and residents in many ways. Outdoor spaces must be organized for independence, easy use, and learning. Paths, walkways, and stairs should be clearly marked and free of obstructions, and outdoor areas must provide for both active play and quiet activities, with the needs of all students kept top of mind. 

Our job, as we see it, is to engage with your community and earn their trust. That process begins at the start of the feasibility study and continues through the public vote, and, ultimately, the design of the project. One of the key tasks of the Feasibility phase is to objectively evaluate options in terms of their long-range viability and gauge the support each option has within the community. Critical to gaining approval is ongoing, clear communication. Our community meetings facilitate the process of gaining insight around expectations and priorities, serve as an update on the progress of the work, and support a feedback loop that builds positive momentum with taxpayers.