Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg University partnered with Harrisburg City School District for a Math and Science Magnet School. The original building was a Woolworth store, and then it became a YWCA. After six years of being empty, it was purchased by the Harrisburg City School District.

The 81,000 gsf school’s creative and unconventional educational model promotes maximum planned interaction between students and faculty, along with opportunities for chance encounters and impromptu meetings. General classrooms are not “owned” by individual instructors and were designed to allow instruction of multiple subjects.

All three laboratories include work areas for small group instructor based learning. Flexibility and mobility are achieved with mobile work surfaces, allowing easy reconfiguration of the rooms as required.

A three-story intercommunicating stair provides ease of movement and encourages frequent interaction beyond the classroom & office. Numerous meeting rooms and social spaces encourage small group interaction and collaborative learning opportunities.

The project has won multiple national design awards and has received many accolades. The school is still toured by professional firms, even though the opened our doors back in 2004.