Franklin Elementary School Expansion and Renovations

The expansion of Franklin Elementary School added 21 classrooms to meet the needs of a growing and shifting student population in the North Allegheny School District.  In addition to classrooms, a new, flexible large-group learning space, music classrooms, a multi-purpose gymnasium, and a new cafeteria with a stage were included in the project. 

The design for Franklin Elementary School was intended to evoke imagination and to create a learning environment that kids would look forward to each day. The design team selected a bright color palette that was utilized to accent important greeting, gathering, and circulation spaces. Starting at the main lobby where blues, yellows, and greens in both flooring, ceiling and furnishings overlap, colors lead students down the corridors and towards the classrooms and the building’s largest gathering space, the multi-purpose cafeteria.  The blue, yellow, and green palette was used for wayfinding to identify grade levels and to be helpful and ease the transition to a building that was doubling in size.

The project focused on creating advanced learning environments that support the District’s programs well into the future.  The project was completed concurrently with the expansion of the McKnight Elementary School project.

Franklin Elementary School was awarded the 2021 “People’s Choice Award” given by the AIA Pittsburgh.