
Schools in urban locations present a set of design challenges that institutions with more expansive campuses don’t typically see. City schools often occupy compact sites with tight footprints and so their needs and challenges are often space-related. The most obvious solution to those challenges is to grow vertically, and design firms across the country are helping schools do that, alleviating space and budget constraints by adding additional levels of classrooms to existing buildings and creating usable rooftop spaces.
To learn more about the design challenges urban schools face, we recently interviewed Sara Grant, AIA, LEED AP, a partner with the architecture firm MBB Architects. Ms. Grant spoke about her firm’s work on a number of independent and public education school projects across Manhattan. These schools tasked MBB with expanding their academic recreational facilities and providing thoughtful additions to their teaching spaces. For these clients, the architects at MBB have activated their existing rooftops by transforming them into playgrounds and gymnasiums, science centers and outdoor classrooms.
The projects include:

>Grace Church School. “A new 14,000-square-foot, double height addition atop a row of historic warehouse buildings has delivered highly flexible spaces for varied physical activities, academic uses, and events. Centered on a large, multipurpose gymnasium and new gathering areas, the expansion also adds offices, classrooms, locker rooms and storage facilities to accommodate growth in the student body. MBB’s design solution utilizes an arched steel structure, cleverly fitting the new facilities within the existing building’s footprint and below the sight lines from the street.”



>Rodeph Sholom School. “Expanded facilities include a new 2,300 square foot rooftop space that forms a critical component of the school’s investment in active design. Acoustically isolated from the classrooms below, the deck offers a half basketball court with views of the Manhattan skyline, a seating area with storage and custom Ipe-wood benches, and dedicated areas for quiet zones that offer variety and choice for students. In addition, MBB renovated an existing 1,500-square-foot playdeck for younger students on the school’s lower wing, creating new game courts and nooks for students who prefer quieter play.”


>St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s School. “Award-winning renovations at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s School expanded and transformed a large rooftop deck to create separate zones for active ball play, outdoor learning, and young children. Active zones incorporate physical play structures and changing installations – from airplane fuselages to tugboat parts – that offer learning opportunities, stimulate the imagination, and encourage movement and activity. An outdoor classroom at the north end of the roof incorporates a planted wall and wood seating, opening to views of the Hudson River through a large glass partition.”



Ms. Grant noted that going vertical in urban environments is all about having a sensitivity to space.
“Growing vertically is something that is happening at all levels – it’s a much more cost-effective solution in an urban environment,” she said. “In a location like Manhattan, purchasing real estate is much more expensive than adding layers to an existing structure. It’s a sensitivity to a constrained budget, and also a sensitivity to their neighbors as well, as all of these structures are operating in a tight urban community.”

“These are schools that started by filling their basic classroom needs, but then wanted to offer a more holistic experience for their students. The gymnasium space, for example, is often a luxury for many city schools to have onsite. It’s so much easier to have that space available and onsite rather than having to travel to a community park or another gym off school property.”
“For example, Grace Church gym is the only large space in their building, the only place where a large group can gather. And that’s so important for a student body and the teaching staff to be able to do.”
In addition to growing vertically, Ms. Grant noted that schools looking to expand and update their facilities are now more open to thinking beyond the classroom unit.
“One exciting piece that we’re seeing is informal learning environments, and more formal research being conducted around these spaces.”
Ms. Grant is working with a team of environmental psychologists to look at how those more informal learning spaces work in K-12 teaching environments. Her group is just one example of many entities developing research around the subject.
How does an “open office” environment work for elementary, middle school and high school students? Ms. Grant notes that design firms must ensure that the right amount of structure is in place for both students and teachers.
For an example of a failed attempt to rethink the structure of K-12 learning, look to AltSchool, an education startup backed by “tech titans” like Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel.
“There are a couple different things that need to be in place in order for these more informal learning environments to be successful,” Ms. Grant said. “First, there needs to be structuring throughout the school day for the students. And second, you must provide structuring for acoustic separation and spatial scale that enables both teachers and students to focus. And that the teacher has the support to move and supervise through-out these zones.”
Ms. Grant noted that the success of open, informal learning spaces also depends largely on a teaching staff’s methodology – the styles those teachers were trained in, and how comfortable they are operating a “classroom” in less structured environments.

The topic of security and safety, while always inherently present in discussions between firms and client schools, is now a pressing focal point for schools trying to remove dangerous situations from the school day.
“Security and safety are certainly part of the conversation within every school project now. But those conversations differ because every school’s culture is different. As a firm, we approach this topic with the view that we want the school to be safe and to feel safe to students and staff. Finding the balance of hard barriers and personnel support, and creating a seamless entrance sequence into the school, is really important to that process of making their school feel both safe and welcoming.”
Active design and designing for human wellbeing are also areas of growing interest, Ms. Grant noted.
“Educators certainly understand the importance of activity and wellness for children, but the architecture side of things – how architecture can help form a more active space – is what we can bring to them and educate them on,” said Ms. Grant. “Things like circulation paths and thoughtfully placed stairs can do a lot to create a more active environment for their student body.”
And while durability used to be the topmost priority in furniture selection for educational spaces, sustainability concerns now have a spot at the table.
There’s obviously a lot of attention being paid to wellness within learning environments now, and so we’re making sure that our materials are sustainable. We think of durability and sustainability together now – they’re not at odds.”
“We try to use as many natural materials as we can. We can’t use wood everywhere, but doing a beautiful wood ceiling, for example, communicates warmth, and a welcoming feeling.”
MBB’s education design practice is rooted in scaling to a child’s world as they grow.
“At the elementary level, so much is centered around the scale of the classroom,” said Ms. Grant. “Then when they reach middle school, their world grows to include a group of multiple classrooms. High schoolers travel throughout an entire school and even between buildings, as do university students. The fluidity of moving between classrooms grows as they and their community grow, and that’s an important sequence to protect and nurture.”