Villa Maria Academy High School

Location: Malvern, PA
Description: New Student Union Building

Villa Maria Academy High School (VMAHS) is a top ranking independent Catholic private high school for girls (grades 9-12). The school was formed and operated by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The school’s leadership envisioned a Student Union Building which would be the centerpiece of their beautiful campus in Malvern; its function would be to accommodate student services, social activities, and worship.  Program spaces for the new facility include: a secure Main Entrance for all visitors to the campus, Administrative Offices, Chapel, Counseling Department, Health Suite, Student Commons for group study and collaboration, Faculty and Student Dining Rooms,  and food prep services. A statuary garden and a south-facing dining terrace will provide opportunity for outdoor activities. Construction is scheduled to start in the Spring of 2021.

Villa Joseph Marie High School

Location: Northampton Township, PA
Description: Master Plan and New Auditorium

Villa Joseph Marie High School (VJMHS), an independent private College Prep School for Girls, offers an excellent educational program including Honors and Advanced Placement courses. With a goal to provide better support for the successful program at VJMHS, GKO Architects was challenged to provide a Master Plan for the campus. After the proposed Master Plan Concept was endorsed by the Board of Directors, the Architects were asked to design Phase One, which includes a new Auditorium, new secure entry, additions to the Administrative Offices, and a comprehensive transformation of the current Library to form a state-of-the-art “Technology and Media Center” which will feature student collaboration rooms.

Thurgood Marshall Academy

Location:  Campus of Southern University, New Orleans, LA
Description: New Charter School Facility

Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) is a college preparatory, cyber-blended Charter School for High School and Middle School Students. TMA is a nationally-based program with numerous school locations. GKO Architects was engaged to design a satellite school to be located in New Orleans, LA. This Charter School, with a cutting-edge educational program, is being created in partnership with Southern University (SUNO – New Orleans Campus).

The Educational Program calls for Middle School Students to be on site for a full time while High School Students will spend half their day at the school and the other half working on-line at home. This school is designed for 375 Students (225 Middle School students, 150 High School students attending split a.m. and p.m. Sessions) and is conceived to be cost-efficient to construct.

Community Academy of Philadelphia

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Description: Renovation Project

Community Academy of Philadelphia is a K-12 Charter School located in Northeast Philadelphia. The school engaged GKO Architects to renovate an adjacent 10,000-square-foot restaurant building into educational spaces. The spatial needs of a restaurant are obviously quite different from the needs of an educational facility, and the school had a limited budget; therefore, GKO Architects maintained as many existing walls and window openings as possible while still meeting all functional requirements. Colors and materials used in the renovation complement the existing charter school and serve to create a “campus” feeling on the combined property.

College Park Academy

Location: College Park, MD
Description: Adaptive Reuse of a former Public School

The University of Maryland, City of College Park, and School District of Prince George’s County came together to offer students an alternative school experience where Middle and High School students would have the opportunity to learn in a cyber-blended school environment. The program offers a personalized Internet-based curriculum which is delivered with the benefit of supplemental classroom instruction and face-to-face tutoring. The design concept included renovating a former public school building, which was located on the CPA site, and constructing a large addition to accommodate the school’s Main Secure Entry and Student “Team” Areas. This school was designed to serve 700 students in grades 6 to 12 and was planned to achieve a LEED Silver rating.

Ultimately, zoning variances were not granted to College Park Academy for this particular location. However, CPA engaged GKO Architects to design charter school facilities at several other locations in the town of College Park.

Cyber School Administration Center

Location: Multiple Pennsylvania Locations
Description: New Prototype Facility

GKO Architects developed a Prototype Building schematic design proposal for a Pennsylvania-based Cyber-Blended Charter School. This school provides on-line instruction to its students but also offers facilities for on-site instruction and support. The prototype building’s program of spaces was divided into 60% flexible office space for the on-line instructors, 25% program space for on-site instruction, and 15% support space including several lesson production studios. Three alternative design concepts were created to explore different planning approaches for the Prototype Facility. Consistent themes explored in the concepts include “openness” and provision of ample natural light; centralized security and facility access control; cafe-style environment in Lobby/Entry Area; simple “modular” construction methods to accommodate off-site fabrication of the building components; sustainable design initiatives; and flexible design approaches, which would be adaptable to different site locations.

Waldron Mercy Academy

Location: Lower Merion Township, PA
Description: Cafeteria and Kitchen Renovation

This project for a highly successful private school involves a complete renovation of the cafeteria, faculty dining, and kitchen areas. The challenge of this project has been designing the alterations so that they can be completed over the summer months of 2021. This project commenced with a feasibility study that included interactive workshops with the administration, building committee, and faculty.