SCHOOL DESIGN

CINCINNATI, OH
(over the rhine neighborhood)
 Historically, Over
CO-OP Montessori Middle School the Rhine has been a
cultural throughway.
Single generational
flights have left
empty visual remind-
ers of the past with
no infrastructure to
complete the pic-
ture. Through incor-
poration of existing
architecture while
injecting a cellular
school structure
onto the site, the
design crucially
weaves past and
present with a
community building
thread. A school
provides the democratic
platform to enact holis-
tic education inside
classrooms and outside com-
munity. A simple cruciform
plan composed of the juncture
between a ramp, a walkway, balcony
and path, gives the site a central
gathering space. Grassy mounds protect
this heart from the main street while
providing interior facing underground
classrooms as well as amphitheater seating
N for outdoor performances.
 Am
Sea p.
tin
g

Fr Par
k
Ent ont Ent ing
ran ran
ce ce
 Und Li
Bac erg brar
k rou y/
Sch of nd
Adm C
ool in lass/
 8
1
PUBLIC LIBRARY

7
OUTDOOR
SEATING
GARDEN
GARDEN
CHILDREN’S

ENTER
COMMUNITY

3
PARKING

WALKWAY

SCHOOL

MUSEUM

OV
ER

6
HA
NG
COMPREHENSIVE SITE

-3’
BUS LANE

+4’

+6’
Existing architecture
+3’
Ram
p Pod Sprouts
1 Public Library
2 Cafeteria

5
3 Children's Library
4 Creative space
5 Retractable wall for outdoor performances

4
6 Grassy amphitheater seating
7 Natural classroom buried underneath

Sidewalk
GROUND LEVEL
8 Administration
 LEVEL 2

LIBRARY

Interior/exterior

ENTER
E
ID
TS +3’
OU
+6’
+9’
+12’

LEVEL 3

+9 ft

+12 ft
Modular Classroom Design
Kinking the box

D
ORME
NSF
NAL TRA
O RIGI

ROTATE
REFLECT +
ROTATE

ROOF