ANN RICHARDS SCHOOL FOR YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS

type: K-12, NEW BUILD

Client: AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

Site: AUSTIN, TX

Team: Architecture, Interior Design, MEP, CA role: dd/CD drafting, ca, design, millwork detailing, finish selection, rendering, client presentation, user group interviews, ff+E package, artwork, graphic design opens: January 2021

Ann Richards School focuses on educating 6th through 12th grade girls in various STEM fields through new 21st century learning techniques. Throughout the design process, the Principal and the students made it a point that they did not want this school to look like a typical middle school or high school - but to be a place that would encourage learning, growth, freedom, creativity, and confidence.

As part of the 2017 AISD bond, Ann Richards School received funding to build a new school, with the timeline fast tracked due to inadequate existing facilities. Following the guidelines of the newly republished Project Development Manual, standards such as classroom sizes and equipment requirements were determined, and helped guide many design decisions. The new school will increase capacity to 1050 students, with a design that will compliment the curriculum focus: PBL + Authentic Learning, the Pathways (BioMed, Engineering, Media Tech), AP class, community gardening, and their prominent maker culture.

SIXTH

ADMIN.

LIBRARY

ENGINEERING /ARTS

EIGHTH

SEVENTH

DINING COMMONS

NINTH/TENTH

LIBRARY

ATHLETICS

ELEVENTH/ TWELFTH

SCIENCES

PERFORMING ARTS

The fireplace was important to the Principal so that the students could really experience a “home away from home” atmosphere at school. Situated on the reclaimed wood platform, it separates itself from the rest of the Dining Commons as room within a room.

The Dining Commons acts as the central hub of the school - all grades and faculty interact in a variety of settings here. As the axis of major egress through the school, clear paths demarcated between seating arrangements and design elements, the students can choose between a more traditional dining hall table, cafe lounge, study groups, quiet areas, or “family room” arrangement.

The double height space and careful selection of building and furniture materials added to the LEED points the building is accruing, by helping the light bounce further into the space and achieve the proper daylight levels.

The grand curved stair at the center of the Dining Commons anchors the room and reimagines a distinct feature of Ann Richards - her iconic bouffant hair.

The large stair at the other end features a cardboard tube wall beneath the stringer, creating a secluded but visible space for students to relax.

Each grade has it’s own neighborhood, eighth grade shown above. Using a color palette of six accent colors throughout the project, each grade is given three accent colors with one of them being their identifying color. Eighth grade, being a dark blue, starts to mature from the brighter palettes used in sixth and seventh grade. The unique neighborhood layout also

Eighth grade graphics gives the eighth graders a space to feel like they’ve grown up, since in a traditional school they’d be the oldest students on campus. The furniture starts to blend with more of the furniture from upstairs in the high school neighborhoods, so that in every design aspect this area prepares the girls for high school but still allows them opportunities to be young.

The final graphics in each neighborhood were designed by Ann Richards School interns that interned with the firm in 2019. Each grade has identifiable Small Group Room graphics - these doors represent their opportunity to choose a Pathway in eighth grade. The interns also designed a girl for each grade, with attention on the outfit, hairstyle, and accessories that students could relate to at each stage of their educational career. Each girl is accompanied by a Gladiolus flower, representing strength of character, that grows with them.

The Library is another central area all the grades could be together; where girls can come to help each other and the older students are visible as role models by the younger students. With a contrast between the floors, the upstairs more accommodated for a less supervised and collegiate environment, with a reading porch and special quiet area. Downstairs has a much more lively vibe, with purely fun elements like a slide, interior turf flooring, and a studentmanaged Tea Bar. A learning stair connects the two floors, bridging the gap between the playfulness of the first floor and scholarly environment of the second. It has the capacity to hold one grade of students so that instruction can be given from a single location before the girls disperse.

Furniture

Working within the parameters of the Project Development Manual, such as percentages of single seating vs group seating in studios or types of Learner tables in the Library, furniture types were narrowed down through a series of user group meetings. Each grade was given a

Middle School unique identifiers

“Cool Piece” that mirrored the behavior and actions the school was trying to encourage or reinforce for that grade. Cooperation, initiative, and open-mindedness in middle school. Creativity, adaptability, and discipline in high school.

The Library gives home to some of the most fun pieces of furniture on the campus, with hanging chairs on the Reading Porch, and grassy ottomans under the slide. The space also supports various group activities, so flexibility played a large role in the selection of the rest of the furniture.

The Commons has distinct areas, a more conventional dining hall with picnic style benches; large group tables for studying; lounges that lines the storefront overlooking the courtyard for a cafe feel. At the center as one enters the Commons is a pair of large navy sofas that create a focal point and conversation pit.