KBEX
Campus Expansion
Austin, Texas
2 acres
2015
KHABELE ELEMENTARY EXPANSION - Situated on an environmentally sensitive site with existing buildings, the Khabele School needed to expand their growing elementary program. From the beginning, special zoning restrictions limited the amount of impervious cover permitted. The school, however, needed to maximize classroom space while moving toward its dream of creating a village-like campus in the woods.
The limestone masonry pattern is copied from the neighboring buildings and offers a crisp play on Central Texas vernacular. Circulation was pushed to the exterior to capitalize on the local climate while omitting corridors from the conditioned space and helping to capture more classroom space. Light enters the building through a series of glass walls on the interior perimeter of the U-shaped plan, inviting views of the trees that reference back to the local landscape. This heightened yet balanced spatial experience provides equal areas for playing, learning, and reflecting.
Photography - Peter Molick Photography
