The two new phases of the Anna-Julia Cooper School (AJCS) nearly doubles the size of the existing middle school campus and provides classrooms, a multipurpose room, and teacher work areas, library, administrative offices, UpRVA, a kitchen and ancillary spaces for grades 6 through 8. The expanded facility provides resources and programing for the sciences, arts, music, physical education and after-school programming. Commonwealth Architects provided architectural services to the Design-Builder EDC in a phased construction schedule for project.
Located on over an acre in the City of Richmond, the expansion is composed of two primary elements constructed in phases; Phase One is a one-story 13,000 sf pre-engineered steel structure containing the Lobby and Gymnasium. Phase Two is a two-story 20,000 sf steel and concrete classroom building, blended together with insulated metal panels above a brick base and standing seam metal roofs. The building has been designed economically in terms of cost and operations and fits into the context of the existing residential neighborhood.
