Los Ranchos Elementary School Kindergarten Addition & Media Center
Owner:
Albuquerque Public Schools
Date of Completion:
March 2009
Building Area:
15,676 gross square feet
Builder's Name:
Lockwood Construction Company
The spaces being used for Kindergarten and Media Center in the existing school building were undersized and not designed for these purposes. The site is not large, so the new addition of five Kindergarten Classrooms plus a Media Center was located near the south property line just 30 feet from the existing building. There was just enough space between the addition and the existing school to allow for required fire access, “dressed up” as paving patterns and connections between the existing building and the new addition.
The Kindergarten classrooms are arranged around a gathering space that is naturally lit with a skylight. The Media Center also has a central skylight. All spaces have substantial natural lighting. Between the Media Center and the Kindergarten wing is an open-air reading space, protected from the sun with a metal mesh roof and pierced block walls.
Materials include stucco and brick veneer exterior walls, polished concrete floors, gypsum board interior walls, and metal mesh shade roofs and porches.
