RENOVATION & REUSE
Transforming an Office Park for Modern Learners
A decade of design innovation at Eastside Preparatory School By Lindsey Coulter Over the past decade, Seattle-based architecture firm PUBLIC47 has partnered with Eastside Preparatory School in Kirkland, Wash., to transform a 1980s-era office park into a vibrant, studentcentered campus. What began as a cluster of low-rise office suites — complete with cubicles and even dentist chairs — has evolved into a cohesive educational environment serving grades 5 through The exterior of TALI Hall offers expansive glazing on the ground level.
12, where faculty and students move easily between light-filled spaces designed to foster connection, collaboration and growth. The transformation began in 2015 with the Macaluso Academic Collaborative (TMAC), a 30,000-square-foot hub for science labs, digital fabrication spaces, an amphitheater and a gym. TMAC established a new architectural language for the campus, emphasizing transparency, flexibility and active learning. Three years later, TALI Hall — named for the school’s “Think-Act-Lead-Innovate” motto — added 50,000 square feet of performing arts and academic space. Anchored by a highly adaptable theater, TALI Hall also introduced a central plaza that transformed a 12-foot grade change into a lively pedestrian commons. “While this campus occupies a former office park that emphasized vehicles and low-rise development, we have transformed it into a quite dense campus where pedestrian movement and space-making is central,” said Jeff Boone, AIA, Partner at PUBLIC47. “Once on campus, you feel the community of the school — more so than potentially in a sprawling campus. Subsequent projects have continued to expand and refine the campus, including a middle school addition optimized for daylight and learning and a reimagined dining hall that encourages social interaction across grades. The architecture embraced the idea of exposing the structure (concrete, steel, etc.) with resourceful touches of refined finishes like acoustic wood paneling. Each intervention reflects a careful balance of the school’s educational values with the practical constraints of an existing office park. School Construction News spoke with Boone about the process of taking an underutilized commercial site and reimagining it to serve as a connected and cohesive home for education.
SCN: Eastside Prep has grown so much over the last decade. Can you describe how you approached the original design and renovation challenges? BOONE: Given our constraints with property 20 | www.schoolconstructionnews.com | march 2026
lines, we had to think vertically. For example, we had to be a little more creative in the performing arts spaces. The orchestra room was located right above the stage, and there’s a lift for big drum sets and the piano, things that can then just drop to the stage. And there’s a tension grid that students can easily walk onto to learn about theatrical lighting without being up on catwalks. Stagecraft is below the stage.
SCN: Can you talk about some of the interesting multi-use spaces you developed across the campus? BOONE: In the TMAC, we have this amphitheater space that’s off of the plaza. In a sense, it’s compromised in that it’s not acoustically sealed off from the rest of the space, but it also creates casual opportunities for people to interact with activities such as the robotics team that’s practicing, or maybe there’s an informational meeting about school clubs that you walk by, but you don’t literally have to go in the door and invite yourself into the space. The theater balcony has retractable seats, and the space can be closed to the theater and used for things like yoga and dance. The main [theater] seats all retract as well, so you can transform the space for other uses like college fairs. All of a sudden it becomes this dynamic part of the campus, and it’s used quite a bit.
SCN: With TALI Hall, how did your team address site constraints while creating a vibrant public space? BOONE: Necessity drove this move to create an accessible, pedestrian-friendly campus that allowed everyone to move between buildings throughout the day. The topography creates opportunity for different types of spaces and different types of opportunities for gathering. A change in grade can The Macaluso Academic Collaborative supports transparency, flexibility and active learning.
TALI Hall is named for the school’s “Think-Act-Lead-Innovate” motto. Photo Credit (all): Courtesy of PUBLIC47
SCN: How did flexibility factor into the design of the theater and performance spaces? BOONE: In a constrained campus, vertical arrangement of programs becomes critical. For the theater, we were inspired by the programmatic design of Wyly Theatre in Dallas, designed by Rex. It was creative in how it reconsidered the traditional idea of where rooms were to be located. Wyly Theater can be set up in multiple configurations. For TALI, the school couldn’t afford balcony seating on elevator lifts, but we looked at ways to provide proscenium theatre, thrust theater and theatre in the round options. Windows to the outside could be revealed and walls to the atrium could be opened to connect the space of the theatre to the rest of the building. It’s always a negotiation. For example, the theater is adaptable, but the orchestra and labs need to meet specific requirements.
SCN: How do daylighting and performance factor into the learning environments? BOONE: For the middle school addition, daylight optimization was key, as the existing building lacked adequate daylight. We wanted classrooms that were flexible, bright and engaging. Natural light enhances learning and well-being. It’s not just a design aesthetic — it’s part of the pedagogy. And that principle guides how we approach each addition, even when the site has strict limitations.
SCN: What lessons from this project could other schools or firms apply when repurposing commercial properties? BOONE: You have to think creatively and vertically, embrace flexibility and look at every constraint as an opportunity. Office parks aren’t ideal schools, but they can be transformed into dynamic, connected campuses. That’s what Eastside Prep has become — a model of how careful planning and long-term collaboration can reclaim underutilized sites for education.
create an opportunity, for example, for a natural amphitheater like exterior space, even if it’s just a couple steps. Those steps on a campus can become a place to sit, to eat lunch, to talk with a classmate or teacher. A change in topography can provide a nice way to overlook a space without necessarily having to engage the space — and that visual connection helps create opportunities for community connectivity and engagement — even if accidental.
SCN: Is there a sense that your work on this campus will ever fully conclude? BOONE: There’s always a next phase: new academic needs, and the school is always looking ahead. Long-term planning is as important as the buildings themselves. It’s fun, because I’m still actively engaged with leadership, and there’s always some tinkering going on.