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Columbia Elementary
School is a new preK-5 facility located on a rolling,
wooded site on the outskirts of Redding, California. The
district’s main goal was to unite their student body by
bringing their youngest students to a site adjacent to
the recently constructed middle school creating a single
campus for the entire district. The new school will
replace an inadequate facility, housed mostly in modular
buildings, located in a remote part of the district.
ORW worked with the district’s team of teachers,
administrators, and parents to prepare a needs
assessment for the first phase of construction as well
as planning for future growth; master planning the
entire campus for holistic expansion. As much as
curriculum and student population shape the proposed
facility, treading lightly on the site and preserving
the large oaks played an important role in the layout of
the campus. A two-story plan reduces the buildings’
footprints, conserving the precious site as well as
reducing potential construction costs. Smaller classroom
pods and public spaces array around an existing dry
creek bed and large trees forming the heart of the new
campus.
