Richmond, California

Making Waves Charter School approached HKIT to adapt an existing light-industrial building into a new middle school for 320 Richmond students.  The school includes a library, theater, art studio, and science and language labs.  The existing parking lot area has been converted to outdoor play spaces, including basketball courts and a turf field.   HKIT’s design addresses the challenging task of adapting a vacant commercial building to suit an educational use:  dynamic interior volumes, transparency, and double height spaces transform the simple structure, creating an opportunity for an underused site to find a new life in the community.