St. George's Episcopal School Campus Master Plan
K-12 Campus Master Plan
Client: St. George’s Episcopal School
Scope: Campus Master Plan
Status: 2021
Size: 136,000 sq.ft / 3.12 acres
A Vision for a More Cohesive Campus
Quality schools lay the foundation for early childhood development and are integral in creating a nurturing, safe, and supportive environment for students to grow, thrive, and succeed. Committed to this ethos is New Orleans' St. George’s Episcopal School, which selected Studio West to create a cohesive campus strategy and lead the development of a ten-year Facilities Master Plan for its uptown campus. The project, which first began in 2021, places early childhood development experiences, accessibility, and knowledge-sharing at the core of its strategy, while framing the project’s design for Porteous Hall, the Wooden Building, and Jefferson Market.
Without a cohesive and robust physical environment, school facilities are subject to becoming fragmented and unorganized, consequently hindering a child’s potential for growth and development. For a place home to a spectrum of ages and stages spanning pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, St. George's is built upon the belief that every child learns differently. Their mission-driven efforts and integrity to student resource services emerged as the guiding force and vision behind Studio West’s design proposal. Over the next six months, Studio West worked closely with school leadership and the facilities committee to envision what the next decade could look like for St. George’s.
To shape our cohesive planning strategy, a layered and intentional planning process of in-depth research and community engagement informed upwards of 20 interviews across school administrators, faculty, staff, parents, trustees, and students. Findings revealed key opportunities and challenges that define life at St. George’s while exposing what makes the school truly unique.
The proposed strategy goes beyond simple maintenance needs and makes way for a sustainable and visionary path forward. By leveraging community input to identify focus areas for strategic growth, Studio West aimed to spark transformation - balancing essential upgrades within spaces while creating environments that enable memorable childhood development and unique learning experiences.
With several historic buildings on campus, Studio West worked alongside St. George’s to develop a phased application to utilize State Historic Tax Credits for necessary and eligible repairs.
Studio West continues to support the school in various ways—from guiding early construction projects to developing consistent interior finishes and furnishings guidelines—and remain actively involved in supporting the St. George community in reaching their long-term goals by way of nourishing the roots of childhood growth and learning.