Jeremy J. Quinn

Central Region Middle School no.7 version 02

Restart version of a new three story middle school for 1,350 students, set above underground parking, for the Los Angeles Unified School District. This 133,598 sf, $39 million project was set on a challenging 5.85 acre triangular site with barely enough room to meet the school district's needs.

For this redesign the school district rethought the criteria for parent drop-off access and instructed us to redesign the building taking that into account. We developed a scheme with an off-center entry plaza underneath a cantilevered library block. This plaza formed a hinge point for the three main building areas - academic, gymnasium and food service, and administration - as well as creating a secure and recognizable entry to the site. In order to satisfy open space requirements, the building is stacked to three stories and pushed into the corner and edge of the site as much as possible, giving it an urban density that contributes to the local context, south of downtown Los Angeles.

Designed at Osborn. 2005-2006
Project team:
Ted Osborn, Brian Lucas, Craig Stewart, Jennifer Davy, Jeremy Quinn, Christina Conwell, Lorrie Brown, Allen York, Juan Azulay, Shahram Mogbel, Catherine Garrison, Chris Turner.
Project has just broken ground early fall 2008.