Florida District Selects Designer for K–8 Prototype Campus

St. Lucie Public Schools in St. Lucie, Fla., recently announced that it has selected Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc., to design its new Western Grove K–8 prototype campus, according to a news release. Construction on the 217,500-square-foot facility will begin in February 2025 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026. The district is also partnering with construction management firm Wharton-Smith for the project’s construction.

The campus will feature two-story academic buildings, an administration building, a gymnasium, chiller plant with thermal storage, and an auditoria, which will serve as both a cafeteria and auditorium. The auditoria measures in at 33,569 square feet and features dining facilities, a kitchen, stage, band classroom choir classroom, and art classroom. It also serves as the campus’ Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA).

“Spiezle’s design for Western Grove K-8 builds on the extensive history shared between us and the school district, as we continue to evolve and modernize our prototypes, while creating a model that is easily replicable at other future school sites throughout the district,” said Principal Anthony Donadio of Spiezle. “This new school will provide students in St. Lucie with a safe, clean, and forward-thinking facility that will suit their needs for many years to come.”

The classroom buildings include four classroom pods surrounding an interior extended learning area, the news release reports. Both the common core facility and classroom buildings feature laboratories, science demonstration classrooms, ESE classrooms, skills labs, and more.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • USC Launches Major AI Initiative After $200M Gift

    The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif., recently announced that it has launched a “transformational” new AI initiative thanks to a $200M gift, according to a news release. The project will leverage AI toward breakthroughs and innovations in subjects like the health sciences, business, security, and the arts.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.