Title: Durham Public Schools - Murray-Massenburg Elementary
Location of Proejct: Durham, NC
Project Completion Date: 2024
Firm Name: EVOKE Studio

Short Description: This new community beacon is a fusion of the 21st-century learning goals outlined by Durham Public Schools and the uniquely wooded, hilly site. The interwoven relationship between the natural and built environment permeates the project. The 800-student school is organized around a courtyard to maintain a compact footprint, take advantage of the site’s topography, and foster community. This organization ensures the building’s scale is tailored to students and promotes indoor-outdoor connections. Learning commons anchor each building corner and encourage learning outside the classroom. A bridge housing shared programs spans the courtyard’s eastern edge and creates a gateway to the woods.

Architect's Statement: This new community beacon is a direct fusion of the 21st-century learning goals outlined by Durham Public Schools and the uniquely wooded and hilly site. The interwoven relationship between the natural and built environment permeates the project. The school is organized around a central courtyard to maintain a compact footprint, take advantage of the site’s natural topography, and foster a sense of community among students, teachers, and parents. Upon entering the main lobby, students have a direct view into the courtyard and the woods beyond. The compact layout ensures the scale of the 800-student building is tailored to the young students, reduces the length of overwhelmingly long hallways, and ensures students maintain a connection to the outdoors. Each turn of the building becomes a visually open learning commons that allows learning to spill beyond the walls of the classroom. A bridge housing the school’s shared programs-media center, art, and music spaces-spans over the east edge of the courtyard and creates the sense of learning in the middle of the woods. The bridge’s 136-foot clear span truss structure and other building systems are put on display, turning the building into a living laboratory to pique the curiosity of tomorrow’s leaders.

Materials were chosen to enhance and complement the environment and design. Masonry walls ground the building, while shimmering metal panels enclose the upper stories. Pops of gold define key programmatic elements – entries, learning commons, and the bridge. Wood ceilings define indoor-outdoor transitions and connect back to the forested site. Playful colors selectively dance throughout the otherwise naturally-hued material palette.

Sustainability was a key driver for DPS. In addition to the carefully crafted building-site relationship, the project will attain WELL certification, the first school in their school system to do so. The school features a green roof that extends the idea of the courtyard and provides multiple outdoor learning terraces. At the ground floor, an outdoor dining patio overlooks the woods and allows students to eat and gather outside. The bridge also extends outdoor opportunities by providing a covered play space, with slides and climbing features integrated into the slope.