Kimmel Farm Elementary School
Winston-Salem, NC
- Location
- Winston-Salem, NC
- Building type
- Public elementary school
- Status
- WS/FCS
- Partners
- Perry Peterson & James Gordon
The project
A Winston-Salem/Forsyth County elementary school built around daylight, clear wayfinding and a front door a five-year-old can find.
Elementary schools are judged by how calmly several hundred small children can move through them. Kimmel Farm is organised into short, daylit classroom wings off a single spine, so every child is two turns from their room.
Colour is used as wayfinding rather than decoration: each wing has its own accent, carried on the canopy, the door reveals and the floor colour. It is the kind of cue that works before a child can read a sign.
Design notes
Wayfinding
One colour per wing, repeated at every decision point.
Daylight
Classrooms daylit from two sides wherever the plan allows.
Durability
Brick, concrete and replaceable interior linings for a long district life.
Planning something similar? The first conversation is with a partner.
Start a conversation(336) 760-1411