A private parochial school had big ideas on their mind when they embarked on a major expansion project in 2021. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, plans were developed which replaced an aging steam plant building with a state of the art STEM addition that joined two halves of the campus, and created two major campus green spaces in the process.

The two spaces connect and relate to each other in a design sense, but have separate purposes; a linked series of contemplative spaces in one, and a student-centered social space in another. A new driveway with staff parking was built as well. A major element of pedestrian circulation connects the school campus to the adjacent St. Mary’s Church complex.

Traditional materials such as clay brick and granite masonry were used throughout the site to help unite disparate architectural design that was built over the decades, but also complement the contemporary architectural of the new STEM building that is the new center of the campus.

The project boosted the schools capacity to 700 students and provides a welcome new ‘front door’ and welcome space for prospective students. RDA, as the landscape architect of record, partnered with Chelgren and Associates Landscape Design. RDA coordinated the civil engineer’s work and led the design and Construction Administration process for construction of all hardscape and lighting elements.

Specific challenges on this project included planning and design on an existing urban campus with an active school population and coordination of existing utilities. The landscape team was also retained late in the design process, which resulted in additional coordination issues with the building architecture and civil design.