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

  • Big Horn Academy

    Big Horn Academy

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Big Horn Academy has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Homewood-Flossmoor High School NetZero Addition

    Homewood-Flossmoor High School NetZero Addition

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The Homewood-Flossmoor High School NetZero Addition has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • UTampa Breaks Ground on STEM Academic Facility

    The University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla., recently broke ground on one of its largest academic facilities ever, according to a news release. The Dickey Science Innovation Center will measure 153,000 square feet and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Western Kentucky University, Gilbane Announce “Elevate WKU” Partnership

    Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., recently announced that it has reached the financial close on a on a public-private partnership (P3) with Gilbane Development, according to a news release.