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Int. Architecture
HENDERSON-HOPKINS SCHOOL - Baltimore, Maryland, 2014
Architects: ROGERS PARTNERS Architects+Urban Designers
Design Team: Robert M. Rogers, Vincent Lee, Fryatt, and Kip Katich
Client: East Baltimore Development, Inc. (EBDI)
Construction Manager/Builder: The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Structural Engineers: Faisant Associates, Inc.
Mep+Fp Engineers: Global Engineering Solutions
Landscape Architects: Floura Teeter Landscape Architects
Photographer: Albert Vecerka-Esto
Project Description
Project Description
The design mirrors the neighborhood’s urban fabric. While most elementary schools are single buildings, the Henderson-Hopkins School is a cluster of “containers for learning” inspired by East Baltimore’s row houses, stoops and social civic spaces. Its campus is a microcosm of the city: students are grouped by age in small-scale Houses that are bisected by main streets and side streets. Each House has a Commons for lunching and flexible teaching/learning and a defined outdoor Learning Terrace. This decentralizing strategy promotes individual learning and growth, rare for public education.
The building heights are consistent with the surrounding low-rise architecture. Grooved precast concrete on the exterior refers to the “form-stone” typically found throughout Baltimore buildings. The Commons are taller building elements that rise above the low-scale campus, representing education as the center of the community. These vertical elements transform the school into a community landmark, following in the tradition of Baltimore’s church steeples, which stand as social and visual anchors for local neighborhoods. The campus’ architecture supports state-of-the-art teaching methods and research. It facilitates Johns Hopkins’ innovative pedagogy with flexible spaces that can accommodate changing teaching methods. The interior spaces are modular and adaptable to any type of pedagogical program and conform to students’ varying learning abilities, habits and ages. The “Commons” are central multipurpose spaces that provide a home base for nurturing students’ development. Windows everywhere provide optimal sunlight in every building on campus. Rogers Partners researched national precedents to design these traditional and non-traditional learning spaces that accommodate multiple and spontaneous activities. “This project represents what architecture for education can really be about: enabling students, teachers and community. Our goal was to recover and reimagine an urban fabric rich in opportunity and optimism for East Baltimore and innovate a school concept rooted in the familiar yet ever changing to fulfill a progressive pedagogy,” says Robert M. Rogers, FAIA, principal of Rogers Partners. “In its intentionally porous, safe, urban plan and through the craftsmanship of light, materiality and performance, the design respects history and supports the future of education and of this neighborhood.” To promote urban regeneration, in addition to the school and early childcare facilities, the campus incorporates a family health center, a library, an auditorium, and a gym, as shared resources with residents and businesses in the community.
