Click photo to enlarge

Lowell School, located on an eight-acre campus adjacent to Rock Creek Park in northwest Washington, DC, made the strategic decision to create a new Middle School (grades 6 through 8) to complement its existing Elementary School program. After an extensive master planning process, BGA concluded that the best solution was to renovate the existing Parkside Building. Lowell intended to grow the middle school program over a three to four year period, so a multi-phased renovation plan was implemented. After a series of modest, carefully targeted interior renovations, the final phase included a major addition and complete renovation/configuration of the existing interior. With a focus on a STEM curriculum—combining inquiry, logical reasoning, collaboration, and investigation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the new 36,300 sf Parkside Middle School houses classrooms, a science lab and maker spaces, library, art studios, gathering and study spaces, and a black box theater.