K-12 EDUCATION

Pillar Falls Elementary

Pillar Falls Elementary School resides on the northeastern part of Twin Falls and houses pre-kindergarten-5th grade students. Pillar Falls addressed boundary expectations for growth and houses a pre-kindergarten component to the facility.

In order to address Pillar Falls’ site restrictions, it only has one access point off of Stadium Drive, which left our designers at the liberty to design various bus and parent drop-off areas.

The approach for innovative design and classroom components was similar to that of Rock Creek Elementary, which saved the district money. As such, multiple design features are found in both facilities and are detailed below:

DESIGN APPROACH

Brick material for administrative spaces
Cement board siding and metal panel materials were used in order to create an appropriate design for residential areas
Designed classroom pods where each classroom grade is housed and can utilize breakout spaces
Provides a level of comfort for students to be grouped with like-aged students

COMMUNITY USE

School district officials, faculty and parents expressed the necessity to have the schools double as community spaces for the Twin Falls Community. Auditorium stairs and alternative gathering areas were designed with full media capabilities.

SAFETY

The Twin Falls School District requested that we research safety and security trends in elementary designs and the following were design solutions implemented into each of the newest elementary schools.

One Public Entrance that allows administrative staff to admit each visitor into the building
Lockdown capabilities 24/7
Lockdown ability from administration and lockdown control of each classroom pod

TECHNOLOGY

The school district also expressed the need for each facility to be leading edge for technology use in the region and also allow for future advancements and implementations down the road.