Overlapping the design team’s effort with Howard Elementary School, River Road/El Camino del Rio Elementary School is PIVOT Architecture’s latest successful school design.
River Road’s general configuration differs significantly from Howard’s as a result of substantially different sites. While being configured differently, River Road shares fundamental principles with Howard including the media center’s role as the core of the school, classroom groups that form “neighborhoods” around common spaces, outdoor learning areas, and site circulation that separates bus, car, and pedestrian paths.
After-hours community use of the gym and cafeteria is enabled by their connection with the rest of the school by a shared lobby. A retractable gate separates the lobby from the media center, classrooms, and administrative spaces. Outdoor classrooms and play spaces have strong relationships to the classrooms and cafeteria to enable integration and supervision of indoor learning, outdoor activities, and play.
PIVOT collaborated closely with DOWA-IBI Group throughout the design process to create a healthy, safe, and stimulating environment in which children can learn.
