This new 98,000 sq. ft. school combines elementary and magnet school programs.The location for the school was a very tight urban space. 60,000 sq. ft. of permanent modular construction provides classrooms, offices and media centers,and 38,000 sq. ft. of site built structure houses the gym, cafeteria and mechanical spaces, all placed over an underground parking garage.

The integration of modular with conventional design on this small V-shaped lot presented challenges. We erected and finished a triangular “core” area with 66 pre-built modular floor/roof “pan” sections and set 88 fully preassembled modular units for the perimeter school wings. All pieces were crane set on the parking garage’s spider-web of structural steel supports that thoughtfully infused the modular structural design to help distribute the building loads.

The brick and concrete façade resembles a 1950’s school befitting the era of that neighborhood, and includes the original gargoyles salvaged from the old school. Interior features include architectural “halos” and colonial columns at entrances, arches and vaulted ceilings with pendant light fixtures. The “floor” of the courtyard is a “living roof” installed over the parking garage below. This is a teaching tool for the 6th grade magnet school students studying agriculture.

“We are very proud of Millmont and feel it was a great success. I admit I was skeptical about the use of modular construction at first, but you have made me a believer. You did an outstanding job—your project team is an incredible asset!”
-Gilbert Architects - Richard C. Quinn, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP