East Ridge Elementary School
East Ridge Elementary School is a two-level educational facility designed with energetic grade-level learning communities and built-in support for the school’s robust arts programs. Driving the school’s design were important concepts like community, local identity, and a relationship to nature. The site sits at the base of Lewis Peak with dramatic views of 3,000-ft cliffs that provided the inspiration for the building’s CMU exterior. The Design Team hiked North Ogden Canyon to gather initial design ideas from the natural surroundings. Examples of native flora and fauna discovered were used as community identifiers for the different grade levels. A recurring grid pattern is seen throughout the school and is derived from the intersection of the Ogden City street-grid system.
Each learning community features four classrooms and a breakout room that surround a shared collaboration space. Sliding doors open to create an adaptable and flexible space that supports various scales of student engagement. The learning stair near the main entrance has capacity for multiple classes (an entire grade-level) and has the storage and acoustic treatment to accommodate the school’s music programs. The layout and design of the school creates a colorful and comfortable environment for elementary students to learn, explore, engage, and express creativity.
SERVICES: Master Plan, Educational Space Planning, Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
Merit Best Award, “Learning”, IIDA Intermountain BEST
Information
BY THE NUMBERS
Ogden, UT | 95,551 SF | 2021
Earth Centered
This school was designed to be photovoltaic-ready. Because of attention to cost and affordability in the design and detailing of the building as a whole, construction costs proved low enough for the District to approve the full system on bid day. This photovoltaic array will generate more electricity than the school uses, effectively making East Ridge a net-zero (electricity) school.