The Project location, adjacent to the school main entrance, situates the New Multi-Use Facility on a very predominant position. The new structure will sit on the school’s entrance roundabout and will be the building closest to the school’s property line. The project relation to the school entrance could not be more direct: every person that enters through the school’s main gates will pass in front of the new building.

The Project program requires two spaces that in a way define the arrangement of the other program requirements. These are the Main Hall and the Stage. These are the biggest and highest volume spaces. All other program space requirements serve these two spaces.

In the process of evaluating alternates, the design team evaluated the advantages of the site environment and the physical factors’ impact over the site: prevailing trade winds, sun orientation, adjacent elementary school structure, relation to school main entrance and drop-off pavilion, campus pedestrian circulation, location of site utilities, exposure to property frontage, etc.

After several discussions and the study of any alternates, it was concluded that the strategy the best served the project’s objectives is the location of the hall on an East-West axis, with the stage located on the South side of the structure.

The Hall volume exposed to the school’s main entrance, the East face, is the face of less dimension of the hall, mitigating this way the impact of the “big volume effect” over the school entrance way.

The stage is located on one of the long faces of the building, and the retractable seating on the opposite wall (North side). The retractable seating relation to the stage is on the narrower dimension of the hall, making them as close as possible.

The volume of the stage and the “back of the house” spaces serve to isolate the existing elementary school structure from the noise generated by hall activities.

The position of the hall on an120-feet East-West axis permits a wider setback from the front property line than the minimum required, thus providing a buffer zone for the adjacent buildings.

The location of the stage on the South side and the retractable seating on the North side enable us to open the East face of the hall to the prevailing trade winds and the school main entrance area (through the facility’s foyer).

The location of the stage on the South side and the retractable seating on the North side enable us to open the East face of the hall to the prevailing trade winds and the school main entrance area (through the facility’s foyer).

The location of the stage on the South side and the retractable seating on the North side enable us to open the East face of the hall to the prevailing trade winds and the school main entrance area (through the facility’s foyer).