KIPP D.C. Legacy College Prep High School

KIPP D.C., a prominent local public charter school, worked with the city of Washington, D.C., to redevelop the city-owned Ferebee Hope site for KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory and a new local recreation center. KIPP DC wanted to provide Ward 8 District residents with an updated, high-quality public high school to educate students and offer rigorous college and career preparatory academic programming alongside various extracurricular programs.

Working with the Department of Public Recreation, KIPP DC tapped local design firm Studio Twenty Seven Architecture to redevelop the 12-acre site by demolishing the previous elementary school and former recreation center to create a “campus” featuring a 133,981 square foot state-of-the-art high school with outdoor and sports programming spaces, a fully modernized recreation center, as well as shared spaces for public meetings, community gatherings, and events.

Students enter the new KIPP DC Legacy College Preparatory High School through a bright and spacious two-story tall lobby. Wood panels in the lobby welcome the students and add color and warmth to the entrance’s sleek concrete floors and modern finishes. The entry leads students to the rest of the first floor’s different amenities: classrooms, the cafeteria, the regulation-sized gymnasium, and the auditorium.

The cafeteria’s floor-to-ceiling windows brighten the space and connect students outside to the adjacent track and field. The lobby’s feature staircase leads students to the second floor, where they can attend classes throughout the second, third, and fourth floors. Students can also walk to the third-floor outdoor patio, which features a floor-to-ceiling, high-performance, glazed storefront window system that enables views of the gym and the lobby below. The inviting space is a large student commons seating area that overlooks the fields.

With numerous multi-story areas, concrete floors, and hard finishes throughout the school, Studio Twenty Seven Architecture knew acoustics were important in the occupant experience. However, every design element within Legacy College Prep High School served multiple functions to reduce costs, maximize space, and lower material waste. The team needed beautiful acoustic products to aid the project’s design and wayfinding.

The design team worked with Kirei to enliven the walls, show school pride, and improve sound quality in the cafeteria and central staircase. Our vast selection of bright colors drew the design team to choose Barcode Tiles and customized Fold Tiles to reduce noise while offering visual depth and excitement in these highly trafficked spaces.

The design team incorporated a color-based wayfinding system of specific colors for different areas to streamline navigation throughout the high school while adding flair to the design. For example, the team designated the auditorium to celebrate shades of red, the gymnasium to embrace shades of blues, and the cafeteria to boast shades of green.

Studio Twenty Seven Architecture is always mindful of sustainability and project materials. Using our Barcode Tiles and custom Fold Tiles helped Studio Twenty Seven Architecture achieve the LEED Gold certification requirement for the new Washington D.C. public charter school. Our PET products are made from at least 60% post-consumer recycled content, helping to divert hundreds of millions of plastic water bottles away from global landfills and waterways.

Studio Twenty Seven Architecture created a visually stunning, efficient, and highly functional high school for KIPP D.C. and Ward 8 students. Kirei acoustic products help create a fantastic occupant experience and better students’ learning by minimizing noise distractions and discomfort and adding color and joy to the school.