Khabele Elementary School Expansion
KHABELE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLEXPANSION
Derrington Building Studio
YEAR
2015
LOCATION
Austin, TX, United States
TYPE
Educational › Elementary School
In 2013, the Khabele School purchased a 4-acre property with an existing daycare facility to expand their rapidly growing elementary program.
In the school’s initial meeting with DBS principal, Tim Derrington, their directive was simple—design the campus as “a village in the forest.”
The school’s limited budget and tight schedule, along with the site’s sensitive environmental restrictions, posed unique challenges.
DBS translated this vision for Khabele’s progressive community into architecture through a crisp play on Central Texas vernacular.
The limestone walls of the existing buildings were transposed to create the new facade while visually uniting the campus.
Circulation extracted from the interior and brought to the exterior capitalizes on the local climate while minimizing groundcover.
This also maximizes the classroom spaces and obliges interaction with the surrounding elements. This open spatial experience and natural material palette creates an inviting learning environment that fosters growth for students’ minds and wellbeing.
