Translucent Learning: A Chattanooga STEAM School

This STEAM School, in the center of downtown Chattanooga, provides an environment for the students that always exposes them to creative spaces in addition to connecting them to their surrounding environment of Chattanooga. This is done through designed transparent layers. The site is unique in that it sits within an urban context, but views of the surrounding mountain ranges are provided due to the diagonal placement of Miller Plaza, a newly renovated city park. These views inspired the massing design of the structure, providing a variety of outdoor spaces, terracing backwards from the southwestern corner. The skin of the building is ETFE, a sustainable building material, that allows for a façade with a variety of transparencies. This material also allows for a lighter building façade in order to not intimidate young children. The interior of the building is designed so that the classrooms and the glass, creative rooms and maker spaces alternate, exposing the children to this at all times as they walk through the hallways. The interior views provided include these creative spaces and galleries with a backdrop of the outdoor spaces and mountain ranges.