In 2012 Indian Springs School, an independent day and boarding school for grades 8 through 12 near Birmingham, Alabama, contacted Lake|Flato about redesigning its campus. The now-completed first phase of the three-phase project includes three classroom buildings and an administrative building. Lake|Flato is shooting for a Silver-level LEED certification.

These buildings are made to connect students with their surroundings, in addition to serving as learning centers. The classrooms feature many more square feet of windows than what I’m used to at the University of Oklahoma or my high school in Kansas. The roof structure also serves to let in daylight – there is hardly any need for artificial lighting in the photo below (on clear days, at least).

The new buildings are also designed to acknowledge their surroundings. Porch ceilings and other overhangs are made from wood, and are not unlike the nearby tree branches. Neutral tones make the buildings visually at home with the natrual color scheme. It’s very easy for a school building to be blocky and unappealing, but instead Lake|Flato came up with designs that blend in like this:

Photo credits: Casey Dunn