Echo Trail Middle School | Louisville, Kentucky | 2023

Architects: JRA Architects
Lead Architect: Colin Drake
General Contractor: Morel Construction Co.
Client: Jefferson County Public Schools
Photographers: Josh Beeman Photography

The new school is an evocative hybrid merging familiar, rural vernacular with unexpected application of traditional education materials, to elevate the relationship between learning and the environment. The optimized proportions of 3-team grade pods set a consistent footprint for the connected pavilions, which subtly step in plan to create destination moments in shared breakout learning spaces.

Two-story massing capitalized on an existing, plateaued clearing to minimize site disturbance and protect the remarkable rural context. Careful composition of durable, utilitarian materials honor the district’s mandate, yet act to unify learning communities and support academic adaptability. Ideal east-west orientation of three pavilions create a street-facing façade with the intentional imperfection of buildings stepping back from one another to reveal courtyards and offer greater depth of view from multiple vantage points.

A collage of regular, yet randomly arranged glazing reveals articulate the masonry enclosure, which itself has an interlaced pattern of four bricks to evoke the subtle variation of weathered, plank-clad barns. Taken in total, the effect of rural relic in the landscape offers a relatable first impression, yet reveals an unexpected complexity upon approach. This is an endurance-minded assembly, where affordable construction, high durability, and low operational cost were paramount.

The traditional education materials of brick veneer, standing seam roofing, polished concrete floors, painted concrete masonry, and acoustic panel ceilings are deployed liberally to respect institutional standards, yet married with the resounding value of ICF exterior bearing walls and geothermal mechanical systems to reflect the district’s commitment to high performance construction.

Special moments in the building were derived through mundane constraints, such as the organically stepping social stair leading to the media center at a low point in the existing grade, or the daylight flooded pavilion connectors needed to isolate fire areas.

Changes in ceiling height and application of color define spatial hierarchy, while also harmonizing with practical features such as the cafeteria storm shutters or gym acoustic wall panels. The planning of learning spaces, and the unification of each grade around a shared nexus of academic support, creativity hub, and collaborative work spaces, offers definitive wayfinding and day-to-day functional adaptability. Flex classrooms today serve various special subjects, but also offer internal expansion over time. Daylit resource rooms, and offices for a counselor and associate principal, populate the core of each grade, affording every team within that grade convenient access and constant support.

The zoning and furnishing of the connectors, commons, and media center encourage breakout class use, and support user choice in group size, acoustic control, and digital infrastructure. Within classrooms, seating variety offers students choice and variation, while views into the landscape enrich the learning experience.