CAW Architects (CAW) has been at the forefront of reshaping California education through its award-winning educational portfolio for decades. Committed to enhancing the educational lives of children and young adults, the firm’s wide-ranging educational portfolio, which spans elementary, secondary, and university campus work, reflects its belief that all students deserve equal access and inclusion.

To date, the firm has designed the first two LEED Platinum K-12 public school buildings in the Bay Area, a Net-Zero Energy Master Plan for a comprehensive public high school in Oakland, and substantial campus revitalizations at Stanford University with an established goal of becoming carbon neutral and utilizing 100% renewable energy. It has been well documented that there is a clear link between increased student performance and the environmental quality of the built environment.

For Silver Creek High School, CAW added a new feature building on the street corner, and a new front entrance to the campus. This building enhances both the architectural experience and the student experience. The building is sited so that the street-facing sides are more solid, with a playful pattern of windows and perforated sun shading to form the campus edge. The campus facing side features a forty-foot-wide sliding door that opens the building atrium to the new plaza for indoor-outdoor teaching and events. The central two-story atrium serves as a student hangout space with a mix of large open gathering areas and small balcony perches. The central feature stair makes a gracious connection between the floors, and is also the focal point of the atrium. All ten classrooms face the atrium and have large garage doors that open the classrooms to the atrium. The clearstory windows ringing the atrium bring natural light deep into the building, and also cut direct glare. In addition to the new classrooms, the project added numerous indoor and outdoor casual spaces for students and improved the security at the edges of the campus.

Design: CAW Architects
Photography: Marco Zecchin