Modernization/Reconstruction

Award of Honor

Woodcrest Elementary

Riverside Unified School District

LPA, Inc.

Originally constructed in 1978, Woodcrest Elementary was intended to be a temporary campus housing students for two years. Twenty-seven years later, students were still attending this make-shift facility. 

Funded by local bond and State modernization grants, the reconstructed campus includes a modernized multi-purpose building, new classrooms and administrative structures. This new design also provides basic necessities once lacked, such as hot water and a working sewer system, while at the same time providing a state-of-the-art technologically enhanced educational environment.  Responding to the District Design Committee mandate, each grade level is comprised of a four classroom learning team grouped around a central common work/technology space. This space allows for collaborative work, tutoring, and self-directed student learning. The modernized multi-purpose building and renovated play fields will play host to many public events and regional soccer and little league games.  The new library comes complete with an outdoor reading room and a themed story telling space. The thematic concept features a celestial ceiling to define the area and allude to the open night-time starry sky.  Outdoor reading and study areas are defined by concrete seat walls and provide opportunities for students to spend more time in the natural environment breathing fresh air.

One juror said, “This one is a modest modernization, but its result is delightful. The celestial ceiling in the library is tremendous.”