Northeast Community Propel Academy Opens Doors for 1,600 Philadelphia Students

After more than a year of remote learning, 1,600 students from the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) returned to school this academic school year in the new Northeast Community Propel Academy, a 180,000-square-foot K-8 facility resulting from a public-private partnership between the district, Gilbane and Stantec. The building is modern, vibrant and student-centered, providing an engaging new learning environment for the district, which has experienced extraordinary and sustained growth.

Financing for the project was completed one week before COVID-19 shut down schools in March 2020, yet Gilbane and Stantec completed the $80-million social infrastructure project on time for the start of the 2021-22 school year.

The Northeast Community Propel Academy consolidates clusters of classrooms and collaborative zones around shared media and tech commons within each grade level house. With a total of nine clusters, grades can be organized vertically or horizontally with the number of classrooms adjustable as needed. The overall arrangement efficiently combines collaborative areas for small learning groups adjacent to media and tech commons, promoting ease of collaboration and the ability to allow for directed break-out activities appropriate to grade level needs.

The urban fabric of Philadelphia’s Pennypack Park offered unique opportunities for the new K-8 school as students from typically urban areas are able to connect with nature. Taking cues from the site, the design team fully embraced next-gen learning and created a unique, vibrant design that connects students as one community.

All stakeholders were invited to explore design strategies and options in a collaborative and integrated fashion. The team also embraced principles guided by LEED for Schools and WELL Building Standards for Educational Facilities in many components of the school’s design.

Gilbane Building Company served as the Design-Builder, and Gilbane Development Company as the developer, with Stantec providing architecture, interior design and civil engineering services for the facility.

Image source: aiaphiladelphia.org.