MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
DESIGNED TO MEET
YOUR DISTRICT’S FULL POTENTIAL
VLK MISSION We guide clients through process, collaboration and imagination to realize exceptional environments to work, live, learn and play.
People. Service. Solutions.
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KNOWLEDGE OF MIDDLE SCHOOL DESIGN VLK’s approach to middle school design begins with understanding the beliefs, goals, and visions of the district. Students thrive in a healthy and thought-provoking environment. An exterior facade that responds to its context, stimulating and comforting interiors, natural daylight, indoor air quality, and safety and security are factors that must be considered. As students transition from elementary to middle school a delicate shift occurs. Social peer groups and community interaction become a vital part of their academic journey. With busy schedules and higher academic expectations, considerations for space must motivate and empower adolescents, while also focusing on individual learning needs. As such, we encourage student voice during VLK | LAUNCH®, our community planning process. Our goal is to create environments where kids feel emotionally safe and academically inspired, resulting in a sense of pride and belonging.
M I D D L E SCHOOL D E S I G N
Addresses social needs such as collaboration
Provides the unique identity for developing students, and a sense of belonging
Promotes focus on individual student learning needs
Supports young adolescents
Allows developmentally appropriate introduction to student interest areas
Situates adolescents with peers during a crucial time of brain development
Allows common planning and purposeful content and grade level configurations
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Hutto ISD Modernizations to Hutto Middle School and Farley Middle School
Project Information Year Built 2021 Square Footage Varies by Campus
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VLK Architects, Inc.
VLK provided full services for modernizations and improvements to Hutto and Farley Middle Schools. The scope includes renovation of the school’s libraries to provide next generation learning and collaborative environments for both teachers and students, including new finishes, infrastructure, amenities, and energy efficient construction to make these schools equitable with the newest middle schools in the district.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Royse City ISD Bobby Summers Middle School
Project Information Year Built: 2020 Square Footage: 164,529 sf
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VLK Architects, Inc.
The newest middle school in Royse City ISD satisfies the need for a secondary school in the southwest area of the district. A fast-growth district, the construction of the new school allows the district to shift its grade configuration to a PreK5 elementary, 6-8 middle, and 9-12 high school model – freeing up the two intermediate campuses for use
as elementary schools. The middle school will be a two-story building, designed with a two-story media center as the heart of the school. It will feature grade-level collaboration spaces, and opportunities for students to choose from a variety of learning environments. The school has been designed with the ability to accommodate future growth in Royse City ISD.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
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Learn About Bobby Summers Middle School
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD Marine Creek Middle School
Project Information Year Built: 2019 Square Footage: 163,000 sf
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VLK Architects, Inc.
The site is planned to also have a YMCA with natatorium, a new elementary and an administration building. The site is adjacent to Marine Creek Reservoir. A large open learning courtyard is oriented to the trails on Marine Creek. The media center is a double volume space open to three academic wings. Folding panel partitions can divide the media center into multiple more intimate teaching spaces.
The architectural vernacular is traditional with a masonry and cast stone exterior and pitched metal roof. The building structure is a combination of load bearing CMU in the athletic areas and insulating concrete forms for the remainder of the building for energy efficiency and durability. Collaboration areas have been created throughout the commons areas of the academic wings.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Denton ISD Strickland Middle School, Additions and Renovations
Project Information Year Built: 2021
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VLK Architects, Inc.
The Strickland Middle School project includes additions and renovations to modernize the 60-year-old beloved legacy campus. The new design incorporates next generation learning features which align with Denton ISD’s current curriculum concepts and state-of-the-art technology. Features of the project include a new two-story seventh and eighth grade wing, inclusive of large and small group collaboration space, a storm shelter and relevant science labs, renovations to the sixth-grade wing which incorporate similar collaboration features, an ESL hub, a new controlled front entry embedded into a new right-sized administrative addition, and a new, two-story library/ media center located in the heart of the current campus. The new library/ media center was created by removing the first floor above the basement and raising the roof to introduce clerestory windows allowing abundant natural light into the space.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
College Station ISD Wellborn Middle School
Project Information Year Built: 2018 Square Footage: 169,639 sf
Wellborn Middle School continues the district’s path to align its facilities and create parity across all grade levels through the design of facilities based on its curriculum and instructional pedagogies and best practices of educational design featuring flexibility and collaboration. Based on the design of the district’s newest intermediate school, Pecan Trail, the school features
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neighborhood pods with collaboration areas. Staff PLC’s are located at the entrance to each neighborhood. An LGI is located across from the library and features flexible seating. Technology supports a variety of devices with wireless connectivity being provided throughout the campus.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Keller ISD Vista Ridge Middle School
Project Information Year Built: 2017 Square Footage: 163,000 sf
This next generation learning environment for fifth-eighth graders features active collaboration zones for individual, small team, and large group instruction. Back-to-back performance platforms, allow for a traditional cafetorium setup, as well as a more intimate stage fronting tiered seating and public spaces. Site amenities such as tennis courts, basketball courts,
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and a jogging trail are shared with the adjacent neighborhood and were carefully planned to allow use by various groups while considering the security and maintenance needs of a school facility.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Liberty Hill ISD Liberty Hill Middle School Additions and Renovations
Project Information Year Built Est. 2023 Square Footage 38,100 sf additions; 63,400 sf renovations
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VLK Architects, Inc.
The additions and renovations to the existing Liberty Hill Middle School respond to Liberty Hill ISD’s rapid growth by providing building improvements that support the district’s long-range plan. The scope of work was determined through supporting research and collaboration with district leadership to reinforce the mission of LHISD. The building expansion and renovation will provide space for 1,200 students and promote innovation among students. An artificial competition field, 8-lane running track and natural grass practice field will be added to support the campus’ athletics programs. Other campus enhancements include site and traffic flow improvements, replacement of the existing roof, and HVAC system improvements.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Lake Dallas ISD Lake Dallas Middle School
Project Information Year Built: Est. 2021 Square Footage: 14,447 sf Additions 12,639 sf Renovations
These phased additions and renovations to Lake Dallas Middle School incorporate the strong traditions of Lake Dallas ISD while providing safe and secure facilities that address expansion in both enrollment and curriculum. The additions and renovations include the relocation of the field house and weight room so that they are seamlessly connected to the main building. The addition provides a fenced in outdoor practice area
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adjacent to the weight rooms. Renovations include the coaches’ offices and locker rooms and create additional storage space for athletics. This project also creates the ability to access athletics separately, so the spaces can be used after school hours and site circulation was addressed for bus and parent drop off.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
College Station ISD Pecan Trail Intermediate School
Project Information Year Built: 2017 Square Footage: 120,696 sf
Adjacent to Greens Prairie Elementary School, the design features neighborhood learning communities, each with its own collaboration space, computer lab, and professional learning studio.
Utilizing the neighborhood learning community concept allowed for introduction of natural light to support student achievement. Public spaces like the gymnasium and cafetorium were designed for use by various community groups in a secure environment during non- school hours.
People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Fort Worth ISD Benbrook Middle School
Project Information Year Built: 2011 Square Footage: 164,000 sf
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VLK Architects, Inc.
Benbrook Middle School shares a 31-acre site with the existing Westpark Elementary School. The split level design allows for a three-story academic wing on the south side of the building while shared facilities, such as the cafeteria and auditorium, are located adjacent to the main corridor. The main east-
west corridor is a two-story volume provided with clerestory windows to bring natural light into the core of the building. The fine arts suite includes art rooms, band, choir, orchestra, practice rooms and a 600seat auditorium. The library features generous glazing on the north elevation to provide natural light into the reading area.
VLK Architects | Middle & Intermediate School Experience
Ysleta ISD Hanks Middle School
Project Information Year Built: Est. 2022 Square Footage: 173,752 sf
The newest middle school for Ysleta ISD, Hanks Middle School will replace two aged district middle schools. The new campus has the capacity for 1,200 middle school students and will be a state of the art innovative learning environment.
assemblies and performances. There are numerous collaboration areas and an abundance of natural light and glass, allowing for learning on display across the campus. The exterior features a prominent and intricate facade that will encourage student and community pride in their new middle school.
The building will include STEM classrooms, an open and flexible media center, fine arts and athletics wings, as well as a cafetorium for
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VLK Architects | Specialized Services
VLK | EDGE® VLK | EDGE® contributes to the educational canon, expects us to transfer our learning in the field of architecture, and urges us to seek the next problem we can solve for our clients. The formalization of VLK | EDGE® permeates our practice with focused dialogue built around scholarly research findings, where students’, teachers’, and principals’ voices provide foundational authenticity for school design. Research has strengthened us a firm, informs our teams, and has sparked questions related to deep instructional pedagogical beliefs. It spurs us to consider a variety of aspects related to teaching and learning as they relate to purposefully designed space. Additionally, VLK | EDGE® drives continual improvement cycles across all market sectors of our firm. We have become expert at identifying what we need to know next with a long list of future research projects. Our first scholarly research project, The Impact of Learning Environments on Student Engagement (Oliveras-Ortiz, Bouillion, & Asbury, 2017) served as the catalyst for formalizing and branding the importance of the system that reciprocates the relationship between what we know, and what we need to know for tomorrow. VLK | EDGE® is that overarching system, facilitating our firm’s continual learning as architectural design professionals. Until recently, the scholarly body of knowledge was void of evidence that design influenced student engagement. We have an established partnership with The University of Texas at Tyler whereby approval is maintained to conduct original research, with approval of the IRB, to study the learning environments, as well as the changes in
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LEARN ABOUT VLK | EDGE®
teaching and learning that occur within the spaces that VLK Architects designed. Our results serve as a dialogue within our firm, informing tomorrow’s educational design practice. We discuss pedagogy and instructional methodologies while we debate the instructional and career needs for tomorrow’s learners, and apply what we learn to know that our designs matter. We are continually involved in a research project, and are proud that one of our studies was recently published in the prestigious Journal of Education. Future research will include all facets of our firm. Research focused on examining how architectural spaces influence cognition is growing more apparent. This is of interest to us, as we have all entered a place that just “feels” right; this is due to the details associated with the built environment. Interiors might bestow calm or alternatively, invite exuberance, depending on the design. What causes this? This is one of our driving questions for continual research. Through initiatives like VLK | CURATION® and VLK | EDGE®, we are illuminating the idea that buildings are more than just transactional spaces. VLK is dedicated to exploring one of our core beliefs, that what happens in our lives is intricately linked to where it happens. Space makes place. Just as K-12 and Higher Education spaces affect how we learn, commercial and interior architecture affects how we live - the quality of our experiences and how we remember them.
VLK Architects | Specialized Services
VLK | CURATION® VLK | CURATION® is our thorough process of action research with the school district. Our Educational Planning Team uses district data such as strategic plans, innovative district plans, goals for curriculum and instruction, current instructional methodologies, academic programs, and state data. Using a district leadership focus group, and a highly collaborative process, we dialogue about teaching and learning via a Curriculum and Instruction Design Planning Questionnaire. We also use a learning organization tool to discern the current status of
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the district’s belief system, as well as the intentions for growth, improvements, and educational changes. VLK Architects also uses a simple teacher observation protocol to study the learning styles of students in the district. Through simple statistics, we can discern the types of spaces that will be most beneficial for learners based on the results of these tools. The outcomes of VLK | CURATION® form the foundation that will drive all aspects of design.
DISCOVER VLK | CURATION® People. Service. Solutions.
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VLK Architects | Specialized Services
VLK | LAUNCH® Our charrette process captures stakeholder voices in a collaborative inquiry-based process to create your conceptual design that our architects bring to life. Utilizing the VLK | CURATION® report, recommended potential spaces are then considered by a larger team of decision makers where we capture community voice in VLK | LAUNCH®. In this process, we invite district leaders, campus leaders, teachers, students, and community/business leaders to create the conceptual framework, vocabulary, and vision of the project. All participants form a larger design team that ultimately creates the
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EXPLORE VLK | LAUNCH®
design concept that will result in the actual project. This process is controlled by the district’s priorities established during VLK | CURATION®. Design team members are invited by the district and VLK Architects staff work with teams to ensure the conceptual design ideas are feasible.
VLK Architects | Specialized Services
VLK | PIXEL VLK recognizes that your brand identity differentiates you from your competition. Whether new or existing, your facility should represent who you are and what sets you apart from the rest. We have extensive experience helping clients establish, define, and communicate their brand, exploring the ways it can be expressed throughout facilities. Through a consensus-building process, your values and strengths are clarified and interpreted creatively to establish new brand assets such as colors, logos, iconography, and messaging that ultimately are conveyed throughout the physical space.
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EXPERIENCE VLK | PIXEL
VLK Architects | Specialized Services
VLK Architects’ visualization studio, VLK XD (Experience Design), pushes the boundaries of exploration in the design process through the creation of renderings, animations, virtual reality experiences and 360 degree facility tours. A multitude of software platforms and drone technologies allow clients to experience all facets of a project in an immersive environment prior to and after a design is complete. Allowing our clients to showcase their developments, projects and spaces in a way that transcends the boundaries of two-dimensional imagery. We move you and your clients beyond the image on the screen and INTO the project, for an immersive experience.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT VLK XD
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VLK Architects, Inc.