The STEAMbox is a unique prototype of a new way of learning for Middle and High school students, in both
curriculum and building organization. STEAMbox acts as a living laboratory for students to study integrated topics
under the premise of solving a greater problem affecting our world today. In order to support this curriculum, specialized spaces must be created for study. The school itself acts as the “third teacher,” providing spaces that foster and encourage student exploration. For its flagship campus, a site adjacent to Pittsburgh’s Ellis school was chosen. This site did not present an ideal scenario for the students, so instead the building was moved closer to the existing campus in order to build a new entrance quad to the school.

    The building is intended to be an auxiliary building only, with the cafeteria, student lockers, and other essential spaces located in the existing campus building. As such, the traffic between this building and the existing campus will be significant. The building was sited in order to prevent the students from needing to cross a parking lot several times a day.  Extensive landscaping was designed in order to choreograph the circulation through and use of this quad in order to ensure that the space would be valued and not an afterthought.

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Additionally, the building intends to showcase well designed mechanical systems to keep the building running,
so top-tier engineering consultants must be heavily involved in the process. Innovative materials and systems that the students can learn from and even possibly improve upon will be integrated throughout the building in order to encourage learning.

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~Spring 2017

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Project was redesigned in Fall 2017 and submitted for the AIA COTE Top Ten Student awards