Project Description
Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) developed a new Center for Adult Learning located on Lake Street near Hiawatha Avenue. It is specifically designed for two of its programs:
Adult Education, which connects individuals to the skills, supports, and opportunities they need to gain stability, self-sufficiency, a career path, and contribute to society as workers, parents, and community members; and
Transition Plus, which provides services to students with educational disabilities and transition needs in post-secondary education, employment, and independent living skills to transition successfully from high school to adult life.
The programs previously occupied two separate facilities in which neither building was designed for its respective use, resulting in an inefficiency of space, poor function, and expensive operation.
By combining Adult Education and Transition Plus into a single facility, classrooms and specialty spaces could be tailored to the programs’ unique needs while also allowing them to share functions that overlapped: communal zones, meeting rooms, staff areas, and teacher collaboration. The design results in a project that is a welcoming learning environment for adults, has space that is both flexible and specialized, and is a place that fosters an active and inclusive sense of community.