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 Sidden-Redding, RA
Anthea Comas
Thang Nguyen
Connor Caserta

• Owner/Client:
• General Contractor: Baldwin & Shell Construction Company
• Electrical: CSA Engineering, Inc. (Chad Stewart, PE)
  Allen Engineering Services (Ben Allen, PE)
  Kimley-Horn (Casey Wilder, PE)
  Perkins-Everitt Lighting (Alyson Bauer)
  
• Engineering:
  
• Other:
  
• Photography:
  firm
  

Having outgrown an existing building, Lamplighter Montessori sought a classroom addition that promoted creativity among its students and offered spaces that ignited the senses through natural light, clear delineation of materials, expressive form-making, and tectonic approach to design.

Using the existing and mundane gable-formed pre-engineered metal building as a starting point, the design of the Lamplighter Montessori addition began as a simple double-loaded corridor enveloped within its own gable form. With students approaching and entering the building off axis, it was necessary that the initial corridor splay outward to increase width at the entrance while providing a larger lobby space for gathering kids and parents. The resulting space is positioned at the apex of the roof line and offers kids a grand entry whose geometry is visually complex but actually quite simple. The central lobby space becomes a gabled void through the building and its subtle geometry is expressed on the exterior end walls of the building, similar to the typical profile of a gabled schoolhouse in a child’s drawing.

Educational spaces reside on each side of the central circulation space. Classrooms are positioned on the western side with a continuous outdoor patio overlooking the lower playing field and well shaded by a continuous 10’ roof overhang. The eastern half of the building includes the library, maker space, teacher lounge, and nap room serving as the tornado shelter. Expression of the tectonic qualities of the building was critical in the educational spaces, allowing students to visually understand the making of the building through exposed trusses, ductwork, conduit, etc. Basic lessons in physics and geometry can be taught daily through observation of the built space with side benefits of increased spatial volume in the classrooms and reduced cost through the elimination of standard ceilings.

Materiality is driven by both design and affordability. An exterior palette of predominantly fiber-cement lap and board-and-batten siding expresses a difference in building volume vs void, with a subtle accent wall fronting the entryway. Interiors feature concrete and lvt flooring and the use of paint colors to add visual delineation in the absence of more expensive materials.