Program spotlight projects for WCPSS. “I am so proud that three highly-qualified and innovative black-owned firms are going to be working with WCPSS,” said Pamela Gales, HUB Program Manager for WCPSS. She said: “The more diversity, ideas and backgrounds you bring to a project, the better it is going to be. The designs each of these firms submitted are top-notch and are going to help take WCPSS in a new direction.”
Schools for the 21st century Webster explained that for years WCPSS has subscribed to using prototype designs for schools, creating cohesion across the district. After looking at school systems around the country, WCPSS realized it was time to develop schools that readily responded to the unique demands of the 21st century and the communities they serve. Vines Architecture is a fullservice, design-driven firm based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, dedicated to creating spaces that serve the unique needs and people of their communities. Vines Architecture will design a new 135K-square-foot elementary school in Holly Springs, North Carolina, that focuses on creating flexible, multipurpose spaces that can quickly transform to meet a public school’s unique needs. Vines Architectures’ transformative spaces allow schools to meet teachers’ and students’ many needs while still working with space and budget constraints. “Vines Architecture has done this with many public libraries,” said Jolie Thomas, design principal at Vines Architecture. “There are spaces within schools that are more public, such as the cafeteria or gym, where we can begin to rethink how those spaces can function on a multipurpose level. For example, perhaps a cafeteria can also function as open classroom space.” Andre Johnson Architects in Raleigh, NC, which specializes in creating unique designs for both higher-education and K-12, will be rebuilding Baucom Elementary school in Apex,
School System Designers Construct a New Vision, Path Forward Wake County Public School System opened the Neuse River Middle School in 2020 after achieving M/WBE participation of more than 25% on the project.
Wake County Public School System ushers in a new era of design, led by three black-owned architecture firms By Sarah Magargee
In 2020, Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) leaders in North Carolina made the bold decision to chart a new vision that would emphasize innovation in new schools’ design. Shane Webster, Senior Facility Planner for WCPSS, explained that for years the district had worked with the same designers for all new building and renovation projects. “WCPSS and the project planning team wanted to bring in new talent with a fresh perspective,” Webster said. “When the planners have been inside the box for so long, it is hard to think of things differently.” The WCPSS building program is massive. Since 2014, the district has consistently built or renovated four to six schools a year. In 2020 the school system sent out a Request
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for Qualifications (RFQ) for five new schools that heavily weighted design innovation, while adhering to public education’s fixed budgets. WCPSS also assembled a selection committee of architects and designers, a shift from the traditional committees that had designers on the periphery. The open RFQ and design-focused selection committee helped attract new firms that presented qualifications not before seen in WCPSS building projects. Unknowingly, this also opened the door to more diverse firms and led to three top-notch, minority-owned architecture firms winning projects. Vines Architecture, EVOKE Studio Architecture, and Andre Johnson Architects are the first black-owned firms to lead building
