A three-story, 52,500-sq-ft school creates separate classrooms and administrative spaces for Giddens School and Lake Washington Girls Middle School while crafting shared common spaces such as a lunchroom, offices, gymnasium, stage and rooftop playing field. 

The $19.6-million project allowed two independent private schools to colocate on the urban campus, maintaining each school’s identity while creating opportunities for shared experiences and design efficiencies. The schools have their own character on the exterior but meet in the center with shared program spaces. 

Using structural steel with exposed ceilings in most classrooms and common spaces required extensive MEP coordination to conceal major parts of the systems behind the limited ceiling spaces. It also created a tricky situation for the drywall subcontractor to maintain a clean appearance while maintaining acoustic integrity.

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