October 25, 2022

Addition planned for Redmond Middle School

Images from McGranahan Architects [enlarge]

A small courtyard will be built between the addition and the existing building.

Lake Washington School District is planning to build an addition to Redmond Middle School, located at 10055 166th Ave. N.E.

The project consists of an approximately 17,500-square-foot, two-story addition that includes eight classrooms, two shared instruction rooms and various support spaces. Site work includes the creation of an exterior courtyard, landscaping and underground utilities.

The original building opened in 2001 and was designed by McGranahan Architects. That firm is also designing the addition, which BNBuilders will build. With the addition, the school will be able to support 200 additional students, moving its potential population to nearly 1,200.

The addition will be located on the public-facing side of the school, adjacent to an administration and library area. It is conceived as a deviation of the existing classroom cluster. A similar programmatic layout is applied where a shared activity space is located between two volumes of educational programs that are pivoted, creating a wedge-shaped space.

[enlarge]

The existing school opened in 2001.

The exterior of the addition will differ slightly from the architectural language of the existing classroom cluster, which features unique pop-up roofs over shared activity spaces in a flaring motion. In a project narrative, the architect said “considering the site location and the orientation of the addition, the roof over the new shared activity space is kept flat to honor the existing rooflines.”

The addition will match the existing building's height and will be built with colors and materials from the existing palette. A small courtyard will be constructed between the original building and the addition to ensure that natural light reaches both elements.

The project passed its design review last week and construction will likely begin next year. Neither a groundbreaking or completion date is yet to be confirmed. Funding for the project comes from the Building Excellence Plan, a six-year capital projects levy measure passed earlier this year.

The project team also includes Lyon Landscape Architects, Brienen Structural Engineers, BCE Engineers (mechanical and electrical), Jacobson Consulting Engineers (civil), and Tenor Engineering Group (acoustical design).