Windom Area Elementary

Windom, MN | Education

After performing multiple facility assessments, ISG collaborated with the Windom Area Schools District to conduct an open house and educational public meetings to identify project priorities and determine strategic funding and implementation plans, resulting in a new 75,000 sq. ft. elementary school.

Expecting a 25% increase in student enrollment over the next decade, the District recognized a need to assess their existing facilities and determine how they would meet community and educational needs into the future. Through the assessment process, the District identified the need for a new elementary school with flexible learning spaces, more classrooms, administration space, and building support areas to keep pace with both capacity and modern educational practices.

Following the assessment process, ISG coordinated educational meetings and community engagement efforts to guide stakeholders through strategic prioritization and design. The resulting plan was carefully focused on aligning wish-list facility enhancements with long-term curriculum goals. Following a successful $23.9 million referendum, ISG embarked on designing a new 75,000 sq. ft. elementary school.

By considering a series of floor plan options, the District was able to move forward with a concept that replaced the long, narrow corridors in the older school building with wider, flexible learning spaces between classrooms. In addition to these more dynamic classrooms, the design focused on maximizing natural light and exterior views from each space as well as other learning and enrichment spaces that include a gym and physical education space, music and art rooms, and media center. Recognizing the opportunity for a unified campus, ISG designed the new elementary school on the existing high school/middle school building site. This design provided cohesion and efficiencies for systems, mechanical controls and equipment, infrastructure, architecture, and transportation between the two buildings.