First Roots
Environmental Charter School

        During this multi-story studio, the class was divided into four groups, and we were tasked with designing a charter school serving grades 3-5 using the former Beech-Nut Baby Food packaging facility and adjacent building, located at 1199 East Main Street in Rochester, New York. The multi-story school, designed with the help of my teammates Luisa Velocci, Haley Giroux, and Bing Wang, features a bifurcating atrium and glass bridge that adjoins the main building to an environmental science center with a second-floor greenhouse. The aesthetic choices lean into the school's environmental education by incorporating wood, natural tones, organic shapes, and live plants throughout the design. The site also plays a vital role in the design of this school, incorporating outdoor learning spaces and play zones within a secured perimeter. While focusing on the environment, this charter school offers a well-rounded education through additional spaces such as the movement studio, music classroom, art and design classroom, library, and digital media space. The main contributions made to this project include a large portion of the Revit modeling, including the façade, atrium, greenhouse glazing, basement, first floor, third-grade break-out space, and outdoor learning space. Additional contributions include finalizing the render images pre-edit, plotting the escape walkthrough, and editing the final video.