Founded in the 1940s, Monte Vista Elementary School’s Phoenix campus is a tribute to the area’s agricultural history. The campus boasts cost-effective materials such as masonry, wood and screen-block walls and uses perforated canopies for shading. The $15.5-million, 106,000-sq-ft replacement facility comprises four new buildings on an 11.8-acre site. Completed under budget and on time, the project concept focused on three key elements: saving a long-standing tree, incorporating the surrounding landscape and blending a new building into the existing urban fabric. Concrete and vegetated bands divide the school courtyard and call to mind the region’s famed orchards.
 

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