First Floor | Communal Terrace

Second Floor | Play/Learn Terrace

Third Floor | Naturalistic Terrace

Building Section & Space Planning Organization

Site Plan

Organizing the new school into three terraces nestles it into the landscape.

The main entry has a comfortable two-story scale.

The entry terrace provides flexible space for community participation, with a main formal area and an informal area. Bellevue Public Libraries uses the Learning Stairs to give presentations to the students.

The second terrace has a variety of outdoor and indoor informal spaces.

Learning tool: ventilation stacks in the second floor courtyard have LED lights with changing colors to reflect in-taking or exhausting air from the mechanical room below.

The informal courtyard on the second terrace provides students ample opportunities for playing, learning, and socializing.

Located on the second terrace, the library provides a broad panoramic view of the neighborhood’s wooded perimeter, engaging nature at a medium-large distance.

Green roof extends learning opportunities outside, connecting students with the wider setting.

Informal shared spaces on the third terrace connect to three indoor classrooms and to an outdoor learning area, establishing a direct link to nature.

Nestled into the hillside, the classrooms on the third terrace have a direct, intimate connection to nature.

The informal courtyard on the second terrace has a one-story feel.

Nestled into landscape, the new school engages its site at a variety of experiential scales.

Benjamin Benschneider

Benjamin Benschneider

Benjamin Benschneider