Jacksonville Beach Elementary | Jacksonville Beach, Florida

The new Jacksonville Beach Elementary School is constructed on the site of an existing elementary school, which remained operational during construction. The existing school and the wetlands occupy approximately half of the 8-acre site, necessitating a two-story design. The building is entered through a two-story rotunda which is on axis with the approach down Third Avenue. The palm-lined entry drive is flanked by a parking lot and open play fields. Buses enter the site at the side of the building. In today's security-minded environment, the rotunda serves as the control point for all entering the school. The office and cafetorium are located off the rotunda with the media center located at the termination of the entry corridor. On both the first and second floors, classrooms are located on the perimeter with support functions located on the interior. The budget for this 74,856 s.f. school is $83/s.f. In order to meet this budget, the school is constructed using tilt-up concrete panels over a steel frame structure. The massing is composed of a two-story classroom building, the 1-1/2 story cafetorium and the one-story administration area, flanking the entry rotunda. Each individual mass is painted a different complementary color.

[ back to education ]