Hildreth Elementary School
Hildreth Elementary School is a new PreK-5 school located in Harvard, Massachusetts. Working closely with the Town and school staff, the design team developed a series of environmental graphics –a large-scale wall mural, individual classroom graphics, and custom sunscreens– supporting the building’s biophilic design.
The Challenge
Founded in the early 1700s, the town has a rich heritage that is reflected in its buildings and landscape. The school’s administration wanted to celebrate these unique aspects and weave them into the fabric of the new building to provide educational opportunities outside the classrooms.
Project Vision
Utilizing research from the local historic society, community outreach, and walking tours, the design team compiled a collection of imagery which inspired both the interior color palette and a series of placemaking elements that link the new building to the town’s heritage and landscape. An 82-foot-long mural, located in the heart of the school, serves as a teaching tool to help students celebrate and understand their physical location and how they are connected to the broader world.
The mural begins with an illustrated town map anchoring the Learning Stair. The teaching tool helps students celebrate their town’s unique features; both natural and manmade, historic and modern.
William Horne, Horne Visuals
The town map features illustrations of local landmarks and native species. An apple orchard provides a transitional metaphor. Students pass through the trees and emerge to discover a larger world.
William Horne, Horne Visuals
The media center features an Equal Earth map projection as its base with additional projections located above the bookshelves to illustrate a sample of the ways Earth is depicted two-dimensionally.
William Horne, Horne Visuals
Design + Execution
The combination of graphics provides teachers with additional educational tools while also instilling pride in and connecting to Harvard’s rich history and landscape.
Mural: An 82-foot-long mural, located in the heart of the school, serves as a teaching tool to help students celebrate and understand their physical location and how they are connected to the broader world.
Classroom Graphics: Native plant and animal species featured in the Harvard map were used to identify classrooms and program spaces throughout the school. Working closely with the school’s administrative staff, species were paired with classrooms to align with each grade’s curriculum. The simple vinyl graphic applied to each room’s sidelight provides not only a tie to local nature, but also serves as wayfinding for early literacy students.
Sunscreens: Harvard’s landscape of apple orchards and rolling hills were integrated into a series of sunscreens located around the perimeter of the building. Fabricated from laser-cut, painted aluminum panels, the sunscreens add a unique finishing touch to the building’s exterior and yet another nod to the town. The inside returns of the apples were painted red for an added element of discovery.
The design team compiled imagery which inspired both the interior color palette and the series of placemaking elements that link the new school to the heritage and landscape of Harvard.
Arrowstreet Inc.
The architecture naturally divides the mural into three sections and provides interest up close and at a distance. Details, such as plant and animal species, are repeated throughout the school.
Arrowstreet Inc.
Local species were paired with classrooms to align with each grade’s curriculum. The translucent vinyl graphics provide a tie to local nature and serve as wayfinding for early literacy students.
William Horne, Horne Visuals
Metal sunscreens help shade the building while providing a unique sense of place. Red returns pay homage to the town’s historic apple orchards while adding subtle color and detail.
William Horne, Horne Visuals
Project Details
This project integrates local life into the overall school aesthetic, resulting in a design that shows pride in the community while inspiring students to think and dream about connectivity around the world. Intentional, playful attention to detail creates fun, joyful opportunities for learning.
This carefully designed mural creates a vibrant, colorful environment for the central public space at this elementary school. Using colorful maps it smartly connects the local community with the world at large in one sweeping graphic.
Design Team
Lauren Haggerty (design director)
Jessica Roach (designer, illustrator)
Jessica Grant (designer, illustrator)
Logan Wells (designer, illustrator)
Collaborators
Arrowstreet (architecture, planning)
Terraink (landscape architecture)
Welch Sign (fabrication)
The community of Harvard, MA
Shawmut Design and Construction
Photo Credits
William Horne, Horne Visual Media
Open Date
May 2021