Katherine Johnson Middle School
San Juan Unified School District
Katherine Johnson Middle School brings new life to the site of the former Creekside Elementary School as a 58,500 square foot, single-story campus designed for 650 students. With an aggressive schedule from the onset, and designed concurrently wtih a second district middle school, Lionakis developed an incremental Division of the State Architect submittal strategy that sequenced sitework, classroom buildings, and remaining structures across three phases, accelerating early review periods and keeping construction moving without sacrificing design quality. Prototype classroom buildings from the Lionakis portfolio were implemented efficiently across both this campus and a the companion middle school, while the gymnasium, multi-purpose spaces, administration, library, and science and elective buildings were developed as new prototypes to serve both campuses.
While both campuses leverage the same building blocks, each campus received its own design identity through custom theming and finishes. Taking cues from its namesake—NASA mathematician and trailblazer Katherine Johnson—a space exploration theme runs through the new campus' color palette and interior concept.
