Project Description
This project was selected as a winner in AIA’s 2023 Architecture Awards.
Dreamed up by LPA, the new TIDE Academy in Menlo Park, Calif., boasts all the accoutrements of a contemporary, STEAM-centric high school—and then some. The team, which has offices in Texas and California, specially designed the three-story facility to support the school’s project-based curriculum, filling the interior with adaptable learning and collaboration spaces sporting movable furniture and walls. Larger-than-average classrooms also foster versatility, as do roll-up doors that connect classrooms and labs to instruction-friendly outdoor spaces.
Outside, the design works just as hard, forming an exterior as dynamic and functional as the thoughtfully conceived learning areas within. Set in Silicon Valley, the building features large swaths of glass that offer glimpses of student activity inside the school and foster a connection to the institution’s equally innovation-focused community. A mesh scrim on the façade, meanwhile, filters sunlight—a passive design asset that, along with the building’s massing, contributes to the school’s reduced energy use. Another sustainability strategy: constructing the school 6 feet above grade to account for potential increases in storm-surge levels. Overall, TIDE is a fitting addition to its like-minded locale—and a hopeful prototype for future builds.
PROJECT CREDITS
Project: TIDE Academy, Menlo Park, Calif.
Owner: Sequoia Union High School District
Architect: LPA
Interior Design: LPA
Landscape Architect: LPA
Structural Engineer: LPA
Civil Engineer: LPA
MEP Engineer: LPA
Food Service: Webb Design
General Contractor: Arntz Builders
This article first appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.