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School

The Lennox Charter School presented a number of integration challenges with existing transit, communities, businesses, noise pollution caused by the highway and LAX. The school’s design is an open plan studio with minimal segregation. This campus plan creates a communal experience that is not much different from a college library. It provides group work areas as well as access to private areas for more intimate settings.  By limiting the use of hallways and encouraging a more social learning process, students who graduate would be better equipped for an immediate transition to the workforce. The school was programmed with commercial as well to allow for internal internship programs, using an in-house master/apprentice model.

The design maintains a very low profile in order to not disturb the nearby residential homes. Airplanes skim over the city of Lennox daily, which inspired the structure to be modeled after an airplane wing, a large surface area kept lightweight by the use of long span trusses. The school was imagined as a community within a community to provide hands-on education with real world applications.