Legends Public Charter School Adaptive Reuse
Lanham, Maryland
client
Equity Now, Inc.
size
74,000 sf; 900 Students
type
Adaptive Reuse/Fast-Track
stats
Design Build
This is the story of how Equity Now, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, sought to bring a new educational concept with a robust, financial literacy curriculum to it's students and their community. The mission includes empowering young scholars with the tools to become independent, financially-literate stewards and leaders.
A textbook example of adaptive reuse, this renovation of a dark, industrial printing facility into a bright and engaging public Charter School brings new life to a tired structure and bring profound educational opportunities to 900 K-8 students.
Adaptive Reuse
Specialty spaces for Finance, Spanish, Art, STEM, and Music connect the core academic clusters to the major public spaces including the Multipurpose Room and Student Dining, bringing natural daylight further into the building. The organization of the interior spaces were enhanced with bright and clear signage for wayfinding, integrated with the fun yet sophisticated interior design palette of the school.
Fast Track Schedule
An aggressive schedule of four months for design and permitting and a construction schedule of less than 6 months brought this mission-critical school to occupancy in time for the 2020 school year. A tight budget, complex code implications associated with a change of use occupancy, and the global pandemic created many challenges. The existing warehouse was transformed into large group gathering spaces and small-group instruction spaces with glass garage doors replacing the existing commercial roll up doors.
We were impressed with Grimm + Parker's experience in school design, working with subcontractors, strong professionalism, genuine collaboration efforts, and team spirit meeting, all while considering our budget and time constraints.
Co-Founder, Equity Now, Inc.
Closing Thoughts
The vision and achievement of Legends Charter School brought new life, energy, and hope into a forgotten building and community.
