Lacking a cafeteria the challenge at Green Lake Elementary School was to design a lunchroom addition that served as a true multipurpose which could support uses for both the school and the local community. The new 8,090SF addition contains a kitchen, restrooms, stage/platform and music classroom area designed to accommodate flexible programs. Going beyond serving breakfast and lunch, the space hosts school assemblies, community meetings, performances, and large and small group instruction.

A major goal was to add cost-effective sustainability features that worked with the science/environmental education programs at school. These include: daylight harvesting, 2,500 gallon rain water collection, future solar panels, solar water heating, green walls, over insulated walls and roof, composting area for existing gardens, and a small green roof. Although not required to meet Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol (WSSP), the project well exceeds it with the sustainable features incorporated into the building and site. The added sustainability features help pre-heat water up to 140 degrees, are saving ~200,000 gallons of water a year through filtering and re-use, and collect rainwater for the learning garden. 

The addition was situated directly behind an existing learning garden. Integral to the school’s environmental education program, the design team sited the structure to preserve and enhance the learning garden by opening directly to it from the lunchroom. The landscape incorporated seating that serves as both an informal gathering space and an outdoor classroom as needed. Additionally the building maximizes solar potential with large expanses of solar glazing on the south side, including clerestory windows and skylights for  indirect lighting.