Scarborough Middle School 

Scarborough, Maine  
700 students grades 6-8
105,000 sf  Completed 1996


Built into a gentle forested knoll at the edge of the existing campus, this school appears much smaller than it is. Its cross-shaped plan is dynamic yet compact. Students enter a sky-lit, split-level lobby at the core of the school, adjacent to the Media Center/Library. Four houses of classrooms occupy two virtually identical, two-storey splayed wings. The two remaining spokes complete the pinwheel parti: the Cafetorium/Music/Arts wing, and the Special Subjects wing, which culminates in the Physical Education area.

Both inside and out, materials incorporate bold pattern and color within the strict parameters of durability, practicality, and cost. Common elements are used in uncommon ways, such as the cobra-head street lamps which illuminate the main lobby, and corrugated steel siding painted a custom, slightly reflective tone.


Photos: Brian Vanden Brink

 

 

site plan