Las Lomitas serves nearly 750 kindergarten through 3rd grade students on an overcrowded campus along a busy Bay Area boulevard. The school suffered from a highly congested and unsafe drop-off, no clear front entrance, and haphazard growth through a variety of portables. By purchasing a small adjacent parcel, our team was able to creatively re-envision the entire campus to provide new classrooms to address growth, but also to create a safe and secure front entrance, drop-off for students and buses, and much greater visibility along the main street facing the campus. These design moves result in a completely new face to the community. The new buildings included a new administration, a two story classroom building, and an enclosed, kindergarten area with dedicated play zones, lunch areas, and 6 new kindergarten classrooms. The kindergarten rooms are interconnected with glassed-in breakout spaces that link the rooms to the exterior play yard. These flex rooms offer a dynamic and engaging way for teachers to specifically work with kindergarten students in a variety of ways. The site plan design sensitively preserved mature oak and cedar trees to reinforce the natural character of the buildings and the surrounding environment. The resulting design is a vibrant and engaging space for young children to learn and play.
