Elevate Academy provides career and technical education to 6th-12th grade students in a year-round program. The program includes nursing, criminal justice, firefighting, business, marketing, and general classrooms in the main building, with a full-scale wood construction shop and a metals and welding workshop across the courtyard in an adjacent building.
The primary building features a material palette of stucco in bold fields of color and concrete masonry in shades of silver and grey. The secondary building features three primary sections made with metal construction. Copper accents tie the two buildings together, while diagonal swaths of purple express the energy of the school and direct students to active areas of the building.
Inside, the client wished for “bright, energetic, active” spaces that would get kids fired up about their school. Purple, the school color, takes center stage here. The building’s structure is left exposed to teach the students how the building was constructed. Rooms and corridors were designed for ultimate flexibility and active teaching methods. In a nod to the dynamic energy of the school, students have options for how to get from the second level to the first: take the elevator, take the stairs, or ride the purple slide.