Ehrman Crest Elementary and Middle School

An educational experience inspired by the wonder of a children’s museum

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Client
Seneca Valley School District
Location
Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, United States
Size
198,000 square feet
Status
Completed 2022

What kind of building gives students agency to map the course of their own educational journey? Seneca Valley School District put this question to the test with a new K-6 school modeled after a children’s museum. Our team collaborated with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to create a learning environment that allows students to engage with educational content in ways that are most relevant and interesting to them.

As children would see in a museum, the new Ehrman Crest Elementary and Middle School (“Ehrman Crest”) simultaneously brings multiple learning modes together—stunning artwork and photography engage visual learners, intriguing objects captivate tactile learners and interactive exhibits allow learning to soar.

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Ehrman Crest makes learning possible anywhere. Not just in classrooms but in corridors, group spaces, on the walls and more. It activates possibilities for students and allows them to curate incredible learning journeys.

Reimagining the armature

A traditional school building comprises classrooms and assembly spaces that typically direct the types of learning and interaction students experience within them. At Ehrman Crest, a fluid programming structure offers various experiences that develop critical thinking skills throughout the building. Students embark on an academic and physical journey through a series of porous environments—a room, collaboration space, work-in-progress area or the outdoors—to exercise choice in a truly unique way. The result is a captivating environment that transforms historically unused features of a school’s built environment into educational elements that promote out-of-classroom learning. 

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Impromptu spaces allow students to gather and analog peg walls include a pegboard-like series of dense, wooden strips with grids of holes that can hold anything with mass or weight — even 3-D objects — in a flexible design.
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Impromptu spaces allow students to gather and analog peg walls include a pegboard-like series of dense, wooden strips with grids of holes that can hold anything with mass or weight — even 3-D objects — in a flexible design.
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The kindergarten room is designed with the same principles-peg walls, vibrancy, informative environmental graphics-but also makes special adjustments for the school's youngest learners. Note the floor level window offering these children views to the rest of the school

Testimonials

  • Schools and museums are working to solve the same problem, but we come at it through different ways. We asked the question, ‘What would schools be like if they emulated children’s museums more?'

    Mike Corb Education Practice Leader


Students learn through individual instruction as well as group experiences. To accommodate both, each grade level is structured in communities that include classrooms, a collaborative area and small-group instruction rooms. This format caters to the academic and emotional needs of students by creating adjacent spaces for teachers and students to engage in one-on-one instruction and for students to work together in groups.

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The first floor atrium offers space for events and lunch time, while immersing students in beautiful architecture and graphics that empower them learn even in these instances.

Redefining “flexible” space

More importantly than movable walls and furniture, a truly flexible space allows all to feel comfortable through periods of change. A standout feature of the school’s flexible design is its focus on supporting students holistically within approximately the same area, whether the need is academic focus or emotional rest.

Parting from the traditional practice of relocating a student to address a special need, each grade’s community space includes various room types, open spaces, adjustable lighting, views of the outdoors and responsive furniture. This design supports academic and emotional needs simultaneously, eroding the stigma and friction often associated with serving students with special learning needs. The flexible space is a tool that builds community rather than facilitating segregation.

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Ehrman Crest is located on a stunning piece of property and the school activates its natural environment with playgrounds, outdoor terraces a sun dial and more.
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Access to nature and warm comforting environments are part of a whole-student design strategy to help students achieve their highest, healthiest potential.
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Access to nature and warm comforting environments are part of a whole-student design strategy to help students achieve their highest, healthiest potential.

Testimonials

  • The fundamental difference is traditional school design assumes students start learning when they step inside a classroom, whereas museum design uses the entire building as part of the experience, with learning happening as a journey. There are a lot of positives that come from this journey approach and it’s exciting to see this school adopting it.

    Anne Fullenkamp Senior Director of Design, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
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The building is itself a teaching tool. Here students sit amidst a sun dial that helps them tell time. There are numerous spaces throughout Ehrman Crest where architecture is itself a teaching tool
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Just like in a children's museum, students can explore and learn as they see fit, allowing them to find joy in the experience in and outside of classroom settings.