The King Open/Cambridge Street Upper School & Community Complex establishes a new standard for education design and high-performing buildings by creating a 21st-century learning lab. This new building type combines two separate schools (King Open Elementary and Cambridge Street Upper School) with a mix of diverse community programs, creating a community resource that supports student learning with a vast range of social and family support services. The result is an equitable, inclusive, and beautiful community resource.

As the school designer for the complex, Arrowstreet was responsible for the programming, planning, and design of two distinct schools for K-5 and 6-8 students with shared common spaces that include a flexible Learning Commons. This building’s design meets the client’s ambitious goals through its school planning, which supports each school’s current teaching pedagogy while allowing for future flexibility. Each grade level is organized into neighborhoods with large classrooms, shared project-based learning breakout rooms, open and flexible teaming areas, student services, and faculty workrooms, all intended to support individual learning needs.

Science and STEAM rooms located in prominent spaces highlight project work and put learning on display. The ground floor STEAM corridor faces onto the exterior Learning Courtyard to allow teamwork and project-based learning to extend beyond the classroom walls.

Designed as the first net zero emissions and first LEED v4 Platinum school in Massachusetts, the building uses 43% less energy than a typical Massachusetts school and 70% less than the average school in the United States. The building is a Learning Lab with sustainability features prominently displayed to create transparent learning opportunities. Exterior features include 3,600 façade and roof-mounted PV panels, sunshades, bioswale bridges, and a hand pump at the rain gardens. Interior features include digital dashboards in each lobby, custom educational graphics on the walls, exposed “purple pipe” water reuse system, display areas for student projects, daylight controls, and visible heating and cooling elements.

William Rawn Associates in association with Arrowstreet, worked with the City of Cambridge to leverage this entire complex into a fully utilized community resource, allowing for after-hours and weekend use of the facilities for both the surrounding neighborhood and the whole of Cambridge community. The 270,000 SF building includes an elementary school, middle school, school district administration, preschool, afterschool, public library, public pool, human services programs, an acre of open space, and parking garage.

Project Details

ARCHITECT

William Rawn Associates in association with Arrowstreet

LOCATION

Cambridge, MA

CLIENT/OWNER

City of Cambridge

Size

273,000 SF

Occupancy

850 Students

Team

Awards

AIA

Education Facility Design Award, 2022

AIA

COTE Top Ten, 2022

Learning by Design

Honorable Mention Awards, 2022

Metropolis

Positive Planet Awards, 2021

IIDA NE

Humanity of Design, 2021

AIA NE

Merit Award for Design, 2021

The Chicago Athenaeum

Green Good Design Award, Architecture 2021

IES Illumination Award

Merit Award, 2021

BSLA 

Merit Award for Design, 2021

AIA/ALA

Library Building Awards, Valente Library, 2021

BSA/AIA

Design Award – Honor Award for Design Excellence, 2020

BSA/AIA

Design Award – Sustainable Design, 2020

Architects Newspaper

AN Awards – Institutional Interior Honorable Mention, 2020

Architects Newspaper

AN Awards – Architectural Lighting Editor’s Pick, 2020

Architects Newspaper

AN Awards – Green Building Honorable Mention, 2020

LEED

v4 Schools Platinum

ENR New England

Project of the Year K-12, 2020

The Chicago Athenaeum

American Architecture Award, 2020

IES Illumination Award

Merit Award, 2020

ENR New England

Best K-12 Education, 2020

Congress for New Urbanism (CNU)

Charter Award for Design, 2020

USGBC

Green Building of the Year, 2019

Related News

Quote

Arrowstreet’s knowledge and expertise in school design and operation was crucial to the project’s success as they led our teachers through planning and design. In addition to being an amazing educational facility the building was designed as a net zero facility and again Arrowstreet’s expertise in sustainable design proved invaluable in achieving a 21st century facility that matches the environmental goals of our community.”

– Jim Maloney, Chief Operating Officer, Cambridge Public Schools

Photos by Robert Benson Photography, Anthony Crisafulli Photography, Horne Visual

Architectural Plans / Process

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SEE ALSO

Upper Devotion School
Fenway High School
KIPP Academy Lynn