Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

California Boarding School Opens New Inquiry Collaborative Facility

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/29/25

Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, Calif., for students grades 9–12, recently announced that it has finished renovating a historic dining hall into a new academic hub, according to a news release. The school partnered with Blackbird Architects and Tangram Interiors on the two-story, 16,000-square-foot Inquiry Collaborative.

Building features include “media and technology studios, classrooms, a ceramics studio, study pods, offices, a double-height terraced reading and lecture space, and the school’s library collection,” the news release reports. The project’s goal was to create a flexible, versatile space allowing students to work together, recharge, and create.

Photo courtesy of Tangram Interiors

“We weren’t just designing furniture layouts—we were helping to shape how students experience academic inquiry,” said Tristin Kranenburg, Sales Director at Tangram. “Every design choice had to answer a single question: Will this environment support and inspire learning?”

Highlights include flexible seating zones for both single and group study work; an AV and digital media lab; and the use of warm colors and bold palettes to evoke the campus’ coastal surroundings.

Photo courtesy of Tangram Interiors

About the Author

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

Featured

  • UNT Dallas Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for $100M STEM Building

    The University of North Texas at Dallas in Dallas, Texas, recently celebrated the opening of its new, $100-million STEM Building, according to local news. The ceremony on Dec. 2 preceded the first day of classes in the facility on Jan. 12, 2026.

  • Kimball International Releases Curated Design Support Program

    Commercial furnishings company Kimball International recently announced the launch of a new end-to-end design support program, DesignSuite. According to a news release, its goal is to guide architecture & design professionals and dealer partners through the process from vision to specification.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Full Sail University Announces First Student Housing Facility

    Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., recently announced that development has begun on its first student housing community, according to a news release. The university is partnering with Nvision Development for construction and long-term management of the facility, which will stand five stories and have the capacity for more than 570 beds.