Photo: Designed to foster collaboration, the learning spaces, referred to as studios, will have walls that open toward the hallways, enabling them to merge with adjacent spaces to encourage interactive learning among students and teachers. | Photo Credit: Hoar Construction
By Lindsey Coulter
AUSTIN, Texas — Construction is now underway on Oak Springs Elementary School in Austin, Texas. The project was part of an ongoing bond program for Austin Independent School District (AISD), which was approved in 2022 and includes more than $2 billion in capital projects for local schools.
Huckabee, a Fort Worth-based education design firm and the founding brand of MOREgroup, is the architect on the new 83,000-square-foot, two-story building, which will include a new gym with a basketball court, full cafeteria, theater, music studio and exterior rain garden. Designed to foster collaboration, the learning spaces, referred to as studios, will have walls that open toward the hallways, enabling them to merge with adjacent spaces to encourage interactive learning among students and teachers. The school will also include mental health and wellness areas, new presentation and display systems, technology security improvements and network infrastructure upgrades.
“This new building will provide a safe, innovative and collaborative space that greatly enhances the school’s educational offerings,” said George Zakar, project executive at Hoar Construction, the project’s builder, in a statement. “At Hoar, we look forward to drawing on our extensive experience of working on active campuses across Texas to minimize disruption to student learning and maintain the highest safety standards throughout the construction process.”
The design will also include high-grade concrete floors and a cool, pastel color palette to complement the school’s mascot, the dolphin. In addition to dedicated outdoor learning spaces, a new playground will be built on campus and shared with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, with a community center attached to the facility for public events. To ensure student safety, the community center will have a separate entrance from the school. The school itself will also benefit from a variety of enhanced security features.
Students and administrators will continue to use the existing building until the $47 million replacement facility is complete in spring 2027. The former school, which was built in 1958, will then be demolished and converted into parking spaces.
The 2022 bond program also includes projects across the district, including the installation of secure entry vestibules on all campuses as well as upgraded doors, locks and security fencing. The funding will also address deferred maintenance and upgrades to plumbing, HVAC and roofing, focusing on schools with critical deficiencies. Additionally, 26 aging facilities—including eight high schools, five middle schools and 13 elementary schools—will receive full or phased modernizations. Improvements to athletic facilities will bring new turf fields, lighting and seating to the district’s athletic facilities, while career and technical education programs will receive a boost through new permanent facilities to replace portable buildings at two early college high schools.