Lamplighter Montessori School Addition

8563 Fay Road, Cordova, TN 38018 United States

Building Area (sf): 8,989 sf

Completion: July 2023

Architect of Record:

designshop, pllc

Tim Michael, AIA
Scott Guidry, RA
Emily Redding, RA
Anthea Comas

• Owner/Client:
• General Contractor: Baldwin & Shell
• Electrical: Kimley-Horn, Civil Engineer
  Chad Stewart and Associates, Inc. - Structural Engineer
  Allen Engineering Services - MEP Engineer
  Perkins-Everitt - Lighting Provider
• Engineering:
  
• Other:
  
• Photography:
  1 - A simple, limited palette of fiber-cement cladding economically reinforces the diagram of a gabled void running through the building
  
  2 - The school addition aligns with the existing building while preserving a mature grove of trees to the east and overlooking a lower play field on the west
  
  3 - School administrators sought a building whose design matched their creative approach to education, requiring a departure from the original building
  
  4 - Indigenous plants populate a native garden as an accent wall offers a bright and colorful welcome to arriving students
  
  5 - An abundance of northern daylight floods the figured void as it bisects the plan. Its volume is maximized between the flanking classrooms and support spaces.
  
  6 - Rainwater is harvested from roofs to supplement irrigation of the native garden plants. With economy in mind, fiber-cement cladding changes around the building in response to the diagrams.
  
  7 - An effective and impactful lighting strategy of a singular zig-zag line provides exceptional light output in a unique and fun manner. The building engages a lower playing field through a continuous patio covered by a 10' cantilevered roof (note: owner added fence post-occupancy)
  
  8 - Contributing to student well-being, famed local artist, Birdcap, applied artwork at the gabled classroom entries, and the kids totally dig it. Custom shelving caps add color and fun shapes within the library, encouraging reading a joyful exercise.
  
  9 - The glazed void permits a near seamless transition between interior and exterior. Classrooms are an intentional departure from the lobby and designed to promote calmness and prepare one's mindset for learning.
  
  10 - The voluminous interior is illuminated and read against the darkened exterior as the sun sets
  

Lamplighter Montessori enriches the lives of its students through spaces that ignited the senses and promote learning and creativity through natural light, clear delineation of materials, expressive form-making, and tectonic approach to design.

Using the existing, mundane gable-formed pre-engineered metal school building as a starting point, the design began as a simple double-loaded corridor within its own gable form. The initial corridor splayed outward, increasing in width to address entry and provide a larger lobby for gathering kids. The resulting space is positioned at the apex of the roof line, offering an impactful entry whose geometry is visually complex but actually quite simple. The central lobby space becomes a gabled void through the building with its subtle geometry expressed on the exterior end walls of the building, similar to the profile of a child’s schoolhouse drawing.

Educational spaces straddle the central circulation space. Western classrooms embrace the outdoors by opening onto a continuous patio overlooking the playing field, shaded by a continuous 10’ overhang. The eastern half includes the library, maker space, teacher lounge, and nap room (serving as the tornado shelter), and these spaces exist in service to the classrooms while providing supplementary learning opportunities. Expression of tectonic qualities was critical in educational spaces, allowing students to visually understand the making of the building through exposed trusses, ductwork, conduit, etc. Basic lessons in physics and geometry are taught daily through observation of the built space with added benefits of increased spatial volume and reduced cost through the elimination of standard ceilings.

Materiality is driven by both design and affordability. An exterior of distinct fiber-cement siding expresses differences in building volume vs void while an accent wall fronts the entryway. Interiors employ energetic color and murals in common spaces while neutral and calming tones are used in classrooms.