Design Project: Elmor Stout School Junior and Senior Campus

Location: British Virgin Islands

Project Type:

In September 2017, Hurricane Irma slammed through the British Virgin Islands, leaving massive destruction across the island, and especially in Tortola. The Elmore Stoutt School’s Junior and Senior High School Campus was flooded and largely flattened, and when students returned, it was to temporary trailers. A team from HDR’s Design 4 Others (D4O) was brought in by Construction for Change, a not-for-profit project manager, to first assist by developing a space program and master plan for revitalizing the devastated campus, and then, to provide design drawings for the first phase replacement facilities to accommodate both Junior and Senior High School programs.

The master plan is founded on creating a walkable, open campus with a clear, logical, and welcoming arrival sequence. A series of orienting courtyards create a distinct sense of place, and can be used for various activities, including outdoor educational programming, recreation, dining, and socializing between classes. A central courtyard contains a retaining basin below grade to assure that the new city storm water management system does not fail, as it did during Irma, and the school is protected from future flooding.

The new, two-story buildings are appropriately scaled for students and teachers, and employ a simple roof structure with minimal extensions or overhangs to assure that high winds cannot lift them. Using local readilyavailable materials—concrete, wood, metal, and glass—the goal is to bring tilt-up slab construction to the island by educating local builders through Construction for Change. The single-loaded classroom blocks with corridors lining the courtyards are awash in natural light. In addition to pleasant circulation space with easy access to the courtyards, the graciously sized corridors can display students’ art and other projects, to help foster a welcoming sense of community.