J.H. House Elementary School

Conyers, Georgia

Mid-Century Modern Inspires Creativity

Smallwood followed our client's lead in designing the ‘Mid-Century Modern’ inspired J.H. House Elementary School, located on a gently rolling, open, and naturally wooded site in Rockdale County, Georgia. The stunning setting influenced the decision to incorporate a palette of natural materials to complement the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The utilization of glass in strategic areas introduces natural daylighting and visual transparency throughout the public spaces and individual classrooms. The heartbeat of the school is an open, centrally located Media Center with a two-story wall of glass and a covered “back porch” overlooking an outdoor courtyard space. An elevated pedestrian walkway, with a viewing “crow’s nest”, passes overhead connecting the east and west classroom wings on the second floor.

Our interiors, landscape, and graphic design teams collaborated to incorporate several unique interactive design features. Large format graphics located throughout assist in teaching, wayfinding, and nurturing school spirit. A full-scale wall-mounted measuring stick allows children to compare their heights to those of various animals. Finally, the incorporation of multiple collaborative breakout spaces allows for learning opportunities outside of conventional classroom settings.

For more information about the interior design, landscape architecture, and experiential graphic design services our team provided for this project, please click the links above.