Fort Worth ISD—Rolling Hills Elementary School
Architects: Glenn | Partners
“The new Westpark Relief Elementary School at Ventana is designed to serve Fort Worth ISD students from Pre-Kindergarten through the 5th grade. The new 120,000sf facility will support forward-thinking educational goals and strategies creating a truly unique, inspiring, and open collaborative environment for elementary learning with an enhanced focus on transparency, flexibility, natural light, and secure connectivity to the outdoor environment.
On a site that slopes over 30 feet from high to low, a creative stacking approach is utilized by aligning the building footprint with the site’s dramatic natural topography. The building orientation and sectional approach takes advantage of a split-level design by locating the primary entrance and community spaces on the upper most level with upper grade classrooms located on the lower level. This planning strategy reduces site disturbance while minimizing grading, cutting, and filling of the existing site. This creative and innovative idea also promotes social and educational connectivity while ensuring students are never more than a single floor away from the social and academic heart of the school. The resulting stacked student courtyards are filled with natural daylight and facilitates direct visibility from all levels.
The main entry level includes Central Administration spaces, the school’s Cafeteria, Multi-Purpose Room, and Gymnasium along with Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and 1st Grade Classrooms with access and views into active, collaborative and outdoor leaning on both the upper and lower levels of the new school. The interior environment opens to the signature split level Media Center space surrounded by two interior courtyards serving as extensions to the adjacent learning environments. The lower level core academic classroom wings serving the school’s 2nd through 5th grade classrooms become natural extensions from the central Media Center with indoor and outdoor collaboration pods dispersed throughout each wing. Art and Science Labs are active and on display with direct access to protected and visible outdoor learning. The configuration of the unique classroom wings also serve to protect outdoor play areas and outdoor learning pavilions at both the north and south ends of the campus.”
Design
“STRENGTHENING IDENTITY THROUGH CONCEPTUAL CLARITY. Creating a school for a growing community allowed for conceptual design and ideas, giving a strong sense of pride and ownership to the new elementary school. “The Giving Tree” is the driving theme of the design and planning, embracing the idea that education is where a community grows and transmits values. Public spaces function as the “roots” that “feed” into the academic wings. Interior courtyards are dispersed throughout the heart of the school and provide young minds with a magical environment that inspires curiosity and exploration. “The Giving Tree” concept is prevalent in the landscape, hardscape, planning, and exterior and interior design. While moving through the main entry and key interior educational spaces, the abstract idea of looking through the tree canopies can be seen and experienced.”
Value
“SITE STRATEGY, PLANNING EFFICIENCY, AND DURABILITY. Developing a site strategy to efficiently and effectively handle a 30 foot grade change over a short distance was critical to the project’s success. Allowing the plan to naturally drape down the slope of the site helped to manage the cut and fill required and saved the district significant cost. The district was also able to benefit from the efficiency of the planning for both interior and exterior spaces, which is geared towards maximizing the flexibility and variety of learning environments. Through creative planning and design, additional classroom settings exceed the district’s program for the same cost. Low maintenance materials bring life to the outdoor spaces while also ensuring students and teachers are able to use the dynamic outdoor classrooms for extended periods of time.”
Wellness
“DAYLIGHT, OUTDOOR, CONNECTIVITY, AND INTERACTIVE LEARNING. Providing an open core at the heart of the school with protected exterior courtyards allows light to pour down to the lower level that is partially built into the higher side of the site. All the core educational classrooms stem from this central core and are shaped to create additional exterior space at the north and south perimeters of the building. A series of exterior learning areas create a seamless transition to indoor usable academic space, allowing students and teachers to receive natural daylight and fresh air while maximizing the variety of ways teachers can engage with students. Outdoor learning terraces on the upper level of the school provide additional direct connections to the outdoor for all grade levels.”
Community
“BUILDING A NEW COMMUNITY WITH SHARED GOALS AND VISION. The fast-growing community surrounding the new school was engaged in the development of the new elementary school. Due to Covid restrictions, digital web-based surveys and activities were created to understand the community’s initial educational goals, learning preferences, and architectural guiding principles. Throughout the remainder of the project, presentations were given resulting in tremendous support and excitement for the overall design concept. Materials were carefully selected to mimic existing nearby structures and vernacular context of the surrounding residential developments. Diligent communication with developers on planning the appropriate shared infrastructure was shared with residential developments resulted in the new school being integrated in the community.”
Planning
“CREATIVE PLANNING TO ENHANCE TEACHER AND STUDENT INTERACTION. The planning of the new school is centered around “The Giving Tree” concept. Public and core academic program bars branch off the central, double height Media Center connecting both levels. Two fully protected outdoor learning courtyards provide direct connection to outdoor classrooms and bring natural daylight to the lower level. The central core represents a root system where interactive and collaborative learning is visible and dispersed throughout all academic wings. The shape of the academic wings allows for outdoor play and learning space to be contained within the perimeter of the campus. These indoor and outdoor educational spaces are sprinkled throughout both levels of the building and create a playful, yet functional place for students and teachers to thrive.”
School Transformation
“FLUIDITY AND TRANSFORMATIONAL DESIGN FOR THE EVER CHANGING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. The district established a goal of creating a new elementary school model that supports a forward-thinking curriculum and next-generational educational goals. While the programmatic pieces remain the same, the organization and relationship to outdoor space completely transforms and enhances the variety and flexibility of each learning space throughout the campus. The fluid geometry of the plan allows each core educational space to have views or direct access to an outdoor courtyard, play area, collaboration area, or interactive classroom. There is a playful and youthful vibrancy to the design and planning concept. The architectural concept of “The Giving Tree” can be seen and experienced as students move through the building while also inspiring curiosity and creativity.”
Star of Distinction Category Winner