The new learning center at the Collegiate High School is located within the historic 1927 Jamaica High School Building designed by William Compert and surrounded by a beautiful sloping Campus Green in Jamaica Queens.

It is serving approximately 1,800 students from five different schools.

 

Focusing on the rooms’ future functions, the client was seeking flexible spaces to expand its everyday use.

The studio’s solution was to restore and highlight the existing historic perimeter while introducing new contemporary design elements that create a variety of new areas where students, teachers, and parents can study, lounge, and discuss.

 

The historic intervention comprised restoration of the wood and marble bookcases, of the stained glass interior windows and wood trims along the perimeter of the open space.

New discrete lighting fixtures, a new poured seamless recycled flooring, custom wood furniture and ergonomic seating were designed to make the new space functional while leaving the historic aspects intact. 

The sequence of spaces is articulated by modular and movable furniture that can be reconfigured easily, allowing for the desired flexibility. 

Lounge areas are interspaced among the space with benches and individual seats.

 

The LED lighting, the environmentally friendly and healthy materials and technologies throughout the renovated space make this library a bridge between community traditions and contemporary standards.

 

 This project is part of a transformative series of APT school libraries that are expanding their educational purposes by rebuilding communities through culture.