Kairos Academies is a successful charter school in South City in St. Louis, with a unique approach to high school and middle school education facilities. Their philosophy includes providing students with several opportunities for self-directed and collaborative learning.
The 18,000SF renovation that we completed over the summer of that school year included construction of several new classrooms, a large collaboration zone, a cafeteria renovation, and new gender-neutral bathrooms. The space added to the school was the entire 9th grade. Building year by year is and operational construct for the feasibility of the school. The schedule required that design and permitting work be completed so that construction could start when school ended and complete at start of school year – approximately 10 week construction period.
The grades for 5th-8th grade were already located within Concordia Publishing House, a large underutilized office and warehouse building. Kairos Academies is a tenant of the building and occupies several thousand square feet of multiple floors. High ceilings and lots of natural daylight are a perk of such a building and were incorporated into the design of the 9th grade. A historic wood block floor that was originally set to soak up ink from old printing presses was refurbished and is the flooring for most of the 9th grade wing. It is both unique and very durable.
Much like modern open offices, the classrooms have large windows to the outside, as well as walls of windows to the hallways and collaborative spaces. Students are able to move freely between the classroom and meeting spaces, with visual connections to enhance creative opportunities and for teachers to have visual oversight.
