FRK Architects-Engineers P.C.

The town of Carroll is the fastest growing city in western Iowa, fueled by a quality of life based around education. Carroll Middle School is a result of this growth. Located on the edge of the expansion, it is adjacent to the high school, forming an educational campus. As the city grows, the building and campus is designed to become the heart of the enlarged community. In a gesture to the existing building, similar materials were utilized on the new facility while employing brick patterning to provide an appropriate scale for middle school students. The main entrance features a vaulted sky-lit space that provides access to the facility's common spaces and administration area.

As urban issues shape the big picture, the building responds by creating an environment that is scaled to the size and concerns of middle school students, while also maintaining maximum flexibility for future growth and change. The building is further broken down in scale with the use of "houses," each of which accommodates a grade level. The three houses are composed of classrooms, science rooms, special education, toilet facilities, and a central sky-lit common space. Each house also contains a team room, which teachers utilize for curriculum planning and team teaching coordination. Several classrooms employ folding partitions that promote the team teaching concept.

Just as the community revolves around education, the school's "houses" are arranged around their own center of knowledge--the vaulted space of the media center. Technology spreads throughout, from the central computer rooms to the TV/data connections that branch out to each classroom. The community is invited in, with countless activities occurring in the commons and gymnasium designed for just that purpose.