This tactic is not a panacea. Sometimes, capturing usable space within an existing structure still leaves a shortfall, and the district must build an addition. Our architecture firm often finds that by reconfiguring the existing structure to work efficiently with the new construction, large spaces can be created with a modest addition. It s always productive to identify the full potential of an existing building before exploring the need for an addition. One of the architect s primary functions is to help the community solve its space problem.
Architectural design is only one element of that process.
A good architect may find significant space without changing the building at all, by simply reprogramming the use of the areas within it. For instance, in a middle or high school, teachers may have classrooms for their exclusive use, and so the rooms stand unused whenever a teacher has no class scheduled. If a teacher conducts classes for four periods of an eight-period day, the space is being used only half the time. Reclaiming full use of the space is a matter of rescheduling so classrooms are used more fully. Our firm usually attacks projects in phases.