AREA:
142,600 sf
LOCATION:
Piedmont, SC
Oak Hill Elementary School (OHES), named through a crowd-sourced survey, giving parents and community members a voice in naming the new facility, is Anderson School District One’s newest and largest elementary school. The school honors the former 1930s Oak Hill School and will accommodate rapid growth and eliminate portable use within the district.
At 142,600 sf, OHES is designed in three large volumes connected by parallel corridors with the overarching goals of supporting teachers’ pedagogy and student learning with flexible learning spaces, maximizing daylight, and employing strategic safety design features. Within the first volume, the entrance to the school leads to the main shared spaces – media center, related arts, health suite, STEM labs, and administration. The full-size gymnasium anchors the east corner and has its own entrance making it accessible to the community after hours.
Two-story classroom wings make up the center volume creating a secure courtyard nestled between the two buildings. The third volume includes the cafeteria with its support spaces as well as a unique training center, to accommodate multi-modal and conference-style learning for teachers and administration districtwide.
The overarching theme of OHES is a current of bright, daylit spaces matched by vibrant oranges, greens, and blues. Large areas of striped or blocked colors, colored glass inlays, and whimsical nature motifs are consistent throughout the school. Higher concentrations of custom animal and leaf illustrations are seen in the media center, cafeteria, and corridors.
