Littlerock Elementary has served its rural community for generations, its campus growing and changing alongside the families it belongs to. The modernization honored that continuity. Over the year, three aging structures and all remaining portables were demolished to make way for a 35,000 square foot addition connecting the two buildings worth keeping: a classroom wing and a gymnasium. The result is a single, unified campus where a scattered collection of buildings once stood.
Tumwater School District
Modernizing an occupied school is a different kind of design problem. Students and staff couldn't leave, so the project had to work around them. Buildings slated for eventual demolition were kept in temporary use during construction, and the new addition was fitted carefully between the structures that would remain, leaving just enough space for the contractor to work while keeping students and staff safely clear. The sequenced approach across two summers and one school year allowed the community to stay rooted while its school was rebuilt around it.
The finished interior carries a quiet sense of memory. Historic photographs of the school's former buildings form a graphic collage, drawing from a largely black and white archive that reflects the area's deep roots in the timber industry. The interior palette follows that lead: natural wood accents a neutral base, grounding the new building in the character of the community it serves. A graphic timeline connects students and visitors to the district's history, making the school not just a place to learn, but a place that remembers where it came from.
Work
