The Community Education Center (CEC) is a model design solution for digital education. The El Monte Union High School District sought to proactively adapt to changing study needs by placing an alternative education site in their centrally located district office, raising a design challenge to transform a storefront shell into the CEC. The resulting tenant improvement is a showcase space offering future-ready learning to an underserved population of students and the El Monte community.
The design team married El Monte’s location between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo Rivers to the CEC’s design theme “learning in motion: recharging enthusiasm for learning through collaboration.” Just as the various elements of healthy water infrastructure promote recharging aquifers, the CEC’s design seeks to promote inspired fluidity between collaborative learning zones despite the original small site constraints.
With a construction cost of $745,000 for its 1,620-square-foot transformed space, the CEC represents maximized opportunity. Improvements to the interior and the 1,100-square-foot patio include modifications to HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, fire alarms and fire sprinklers. Flexible seating features agile furniture for optimal reconfiguration. Multi-use casework and an information kiosk with media wall combine to engage learners and their community. Acoustic clouds featuring custom-designed art lower the one-on-one workspace ceiling for quieter conversation and provide spatial hierarchy, while carpet and soffits add further acoustic dampening, optimizing collaboration in a multi-use space.
At the entrance, the transparency of the storefront glass encourages utilization of the outdoor patio, providing space for student gatherings that is easy to supervise, and a central location for community events. Delineating the site, a perforated aluminum fence maintains a secure connection to the outside community and minimizes traffic noise, while colorful panels add visual interest to the outdoor learning space.
Inside, three distinct learning zones correspond to the three porosities of aquifer recharge: independent study, one-on-one workspace and collaboration zone. Each zone unifies conceptual and physical qualities, such as color, carpet pattern and finish selections. The independent study zone creates a conceptual river bottom as an introspective invitation in one long, solid band of blue. The one-on-one workspace zone is highlighted through a green color scheme to represent open park space and its semi-porous nature. The collaboration zones, the most porous and marked by yellow, represent aquiferous spreading grounds facilitating movement for team development. Floor-to-ceiling writable whiteboard walls further invite collective inspiration. Previously unused space repurposed as a small office is perfect for private meetings and teacher conferences. Two metaphorical currents ultimately guide circulation: one longitudinal river flow anchored by the independent study zone and an energized lateral flow through the remaining zones.
The CEC models future-ready learning environments of optimal collaboration, flexibility, and ultimately, educational success. Such agile design is pivotal to our post-pandemic world.
