Mary Lyon Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington serves 450 PreK-5 students as well as autism, Title 1, and English as a second language programs, while acting as a community center for this underserved but tight nit neighborhood. This Next Generation learning facility was designed to support flexible modes of learning through a variety of space sizes, mobile teaching technology, and reconfigurable space with moving walls. It further intends to be inclusive and nurturing through visual connection and overview, to inspire curiosity and learning through ‘we are all language learner’ phrases embedded in the architecture and ‘sea to sky’ imagery representative of the surrounding Puget Sound environment, and to generate student and community pride through dramatic volumes.
This project has been recognized by Learning By Design as a 2020 Grand Prize winner, as well as by the Association for Learning Environments as a 2020 James D. MacConnell Award Finalist, the education architecture industry’s top international awards.