Title: Holt Elementary School Revitalization
Location of Proejct: Durham, North Carolina
Project Completion Date: July 2024
Firm Name: Andre Johnson Architect, PLLC

Short Description: The Holt Elementary School is an extensive renovation and addition to an aging and outdated facility in Durham, NC. The school is a collection of outdated buildings that were constructed in 1956, 1984, and 1993. The existing school has poor site lines, lack of collaborative spaces and most learning environments have little connection to the exterior. Most of the existing building exterior walls were retained due to the budget. The design unifies disparate architecture into a cohesive design that retained most of the exterior building envelope while completely transforming the building.

Architect's Statement: Holt Elementary Language Academy is located minutes away from downtown Durham, North Carolina. Known for valuing global integration, Holt boasts an exceptional language academy focusing on global studies and foreign language. Each grade level focuses on different areas of the world - North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.

Truly a community school with a strive toward excellence, Holt has a rich 50+ year history of excellence. The 98,00 square foot building is situated on a 23 acre campus. Holt Elementary Language Academy is set among a beautiful residential setting with mature and scenic trees. The school underwent renovations in 1984 and 1992. Holt has a very community based feel and the buildings have a presence on the site that is very appealing.

The design team discussed the existing facility with the occupants of the building. Several ideas were expressed to the design team during our assessment. These ideas include: community, nature, landscape, connection to the public, presence and appeal.

The program and design challenge included developing a modernization of the entire facility while keeping the building completely open for the students. The design team created a phasing plan that will allow for the design to be implemented without severely disrupting the education of the children of the school.

The design of the modernization includes improvements to the building envelope for thermal and moisture protection, the inclusion of modern educational spaces, the improvement of security and sightlines for the building and the aesthetic improvement of the building for the community. The exterior design uses brick, metal panel and storefront to unify a disparate existing architecture into a modern and cohesive design.