Hollis + Miller Architects completed Ellen Ochoa Elementary School both with its primary use in mind, as well as how it serves as the central meeting space to the neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Named after the first Hispanic female astronaut, Ellen Ochoa Elementary School was designed as a community school, deeply embedded in its surrounding neighborhoods, with much of the student population living within a one-mile radius. The building functions as a central meeting space for community beyond school hours, including events, meetings and adult education. Through partnering with local organizations, an on-site community garden and food forest is being established to grow fresh produce. Students and their families will have the opportunity to learn the art of cooking in the school’s kitchen with the food they personally cultivated.

The architecture promotes flexibility and versatility, supporting a wide range of learning styles for students, highlighting makerspaces, collaboration areas, individual study spaces, and classroom visibility to stimulate learning on display. In the heart of the building, the media center represents the core of a collaborative environment. Encompassing the media center, classroom spaces expand out into shared collaboration areas, blurring the traditional definition of a classroom. These group learning spaces incorporate a shared “Dream Space” dedicated to focused and small-group work. Flexible learning spaces are distributed throughout the building allowing for individual learning or personal study.

Architect: Hollis + Miller Architects
Photography: Alistair Tutton