West Willow Elementary

West Willow Elementary is the first new school built by the Cedar Rapids Community School District in more than two decades. Constructed on the site of the existing school, West Willow represents the implementation of the first phase of the district’s master plan to reduce the overall inventory of elementary attendance centers and is designed to accommodate the populations of three existing elementary schools. The building’s layout – unique to the existing site and neighborhood – promotes safety, ease of wayfinding, and collaborative learning in a light-filled teaching environment. Art, music, and special education classrooms with support spaces are clustered in the academic wing along with grade-level neighborhoods, while activity functions such as the library, gym and cafeteria form a perpendicular wing near the primary entrance. The main office, with a clinic, counselor and teacher workspace and lounge, bridges the two wings and is accessible through a secure vestibule. Two playgrounds – one at the building’s front and another tucked between two academic wings for the youngest learners – are sculptural focal points. The building’s natural exterior colors and scale complement the woods and houses in the surrounding neighborhood. Large exterior windows connect students to their community and nature. Interior windows bring daylight deeper into the building and enhance safety. Materials and color bring the outside in, both literally and figuratively. Entrances are punctuated with bright colors that continue inside. Natural textures, shapes, and materials inside the building ground learners in nature through tactile and visual senses while bright happy colors boost energy. Colorful leaves native to Iowa indicate entrances to learning neighborhoods. Long corridors are punctuated with moments of color and dimension inviting touch to ground and calm children as they pass through the space. Curved forms mischievously extend from floors to walls at a scale relatable to elementary-age children. A treehouse reading room perches above the cafeteria in the second-floor library with floor-to-ceiling windows and a textural wood wall that wraps up onto the ceiling. Seating areas tucked under the stairs create dens (inspired by the school’s mascot – a wolf) for quiet time. Each grade-level neighborhood contains four standard classrooms and a smaller classroom arranged around a collaboration space with four individual bathrooms and cubbies or lockers depending on the grade level. An open plan and natural materials allow teachers to personalize their space. Interior windows connect classrooms to the collaboration areas where bright colors encourage activity and the open space allows for easy flow, flexibility, growth, and community. Recesses in the common area walls welcome kids with color and playful graphics and create pause points for alone time in the busy neighborhoods. Furniture in common areas and classrooms complements the design’s biophilic elements and are color-coded within neighborhoods for easy organization. Organic shapes in bright colors and textures allow children to arrange and re-arrange seating to collaborate as groups or work individually. Inclusive postures with adjustable heights offer comfortable choices in classrooms.