Campus Incorporates Agrarian Concepts

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A new elementary school here pays homage to the region’s agrarian roots while incorporating environmentally friendly design concepts.

The Hawthorne Elementary School opened in Riverside’s historical district to accommodate 600 students for the second semester of the 2007-08 school year. Planners for the campus included a farmhouse, barn and garden at the school, along with a propeller from an agricultural windmill that is on display in the library to acknowledge the community’s agricultural history.

“We’re proud of the contribution this school makes to the historic neighborhood and the enthusiasm of the existing Hawthorne Elementary School students, faculty and administration to move into the new facility,” says Jon Mills, principal at LPA Inc., the firm that designed the campus. “The new school employs numerous architectural and sustainable features while creating an environmentally friendly facility.”

The campus includes 34 classrooms, a multi-purpose room, lunch shelter and athletic facilities.

Planners took several steps to improve the learning environment while reducing costs at the school including:

• Deep building overhangs to protect interior spaces from solar heat gain
• Clerestory windows to allow more natural light into buildings
• Galvanized metal roof material to reduce maintenance costs
• Water management strategies to mitigate storm-water runoff

The site of the new campus also marks an improvement over the old facility, which was located adjacent to railroad tracks where loud trains would interrupt classes every half hour.

“Teachers and students have endured this situation for years and are very excited about the opportunity to be in an environment without distractions,” says Kirk Lewis, assistant superintendent of operations at the Riverside Unified School District.