LEARNING BY DESIGN magazine - Arkansas Arts Academy

The Site Plan highlights how the school compliments the neighborhood's character with its repeated gable forms. This articulation helps break up the structures, resulting in a sensible scale.
First Floor and Second Floor Plans
Reimagining a neighborhood school, the Arkansas Arts Academy project unifies and modifies previous church structures in downtown Rogers.
The axon drawing illustrates how the existing structures and new additions were tied together by the design, creating a new central courtyard.
The school compliments the neighborhood’s character with its repeated gable forms. This articulation helps break up the structures resulting in a sensible scale.
The central zone of the school serves as the public core, including an addition in front of the performing arts center, the cafeteria, and courtyard.
The extension to the front of the PAC is faced at the north side with a curtain wall, providing abundance of ambient light inside the Commons space.
LED lighting color transitions can be altered for a variety of school functions.
The library takes advantage of expansive glazing on the north side.
Several display and collaborative areas are formed out of the circulation spines. These spaces break the preconceived notion of traditional double loaded corridors.
Top images: Culinary/demonstration kitchen and ceramic art studio with kilns. Bottom image: drawing and craft art classroom- utilizing the northern windows and views for inspiration.
Music suites have capability of recording directly to the recording studio for mixing. Sound control measures were implemented to mitigate noise into other classrooms.
Bike/Fitness room provides space for biking and mechanic demonstration. Black box theater is flexible for different performance styles. Dance studio can be divided into smaller studios.
The courtyard berm is often used as seating space to view performances. A garden serves as a learning space to the adjacent science classrooms.
Aaron Kimberlin Architectural Photography
Aaron Kimberlin Architectural Photography
Aaron Kimberlin Architectural Photography

Arkansas Arts Academy is an open enrollment charter school in downtown Rogers. This multi-faceted project included demolition, renovation, and new construction on a compact site in an historic residential neighborhood.

The existing campus was originally a church comprised of 3 structures built in different eras. The original structures were constructed with traditional gable roof forms, red brick, and physically separated on the site. The intent was to create a physically unified campus. Exterior materials at base level of the buildings along with the forms created for new structures resemble neighborhood context and the existing structures that remained on the site.

Existing buildings that remained on the site, with addition of the new structures, create a courtyard on central axis with the performing arts center and cafeteria. The courtyard serves as an extension of cafeteria/common space and functions as an outdoor classroom, contains a school garden, and serves as event space. The central core is accessible via a cross axis corridor and available for community use after hours.

The school’s unique art integrated curriculum combines various mediums of art with its academic program. This fundamental foundation was manifested in the architecture through program adjacencies, flexible spaces, form, volume, and classroom configuration.

Arkansas Arts Academy

Description

GRAND PRIZE

Project Location:
Rogers, AR

Architecture Firm
Hight Jackson Associates
Rogers, AR
www.hjarch.com
https://www.facebook.com/Hight-Jackson-Associates

Photography By:
Aaron Kimberlin Architectural Photography

Arkansas Arts Academy

Category

Description