Ferryway School | Malden, MA

New K-8 School

This award-winning 121,600 square foot math, science, and technology magnet school is designed to accommodate 850 students in grades K-8. The plan, an L-shaped configuration housing elementary and middle school programs in two separate, three-story academic wings, achieves operational and functional efficiencies and allows natural light into all of the classrooms. A three-story atrium serves as the school’s main entryway and connects the academic wings to shared core facilities, including a gymnasium, cafeteria, and a 239-seat auditorium. Additional program elements include a high-tech library/media center, a 30-seat computer lab, four science labs, and designated classrooms for foreign/world languages, art, and health classes.

The primary design challenge was fitting a large school on a small, odd-shaped, triangular lot within a dense neighborhood of free-standing homes. These spatial constraints, and the community’s desire to preserve what had previously been open parkland, were the main design determinants. The school is tucked into the northeast corner of the site at the intersection of two residential streets. The outstretched ‘arms’ of the two building wings embrace a central courtyard, a tot lot for the younger students, and newly revitalized playfields. Three-story bays and the incorporation of brick-patterned house silhouettes reduce the scale of the building and conform to the residential proportions of the surrounding neighborhood.