John S. McCain III Elementary School / Orcutt | Winslow

Architects:Orcutt Winslow

Area:95000ft²

Year:2021

Photographs:Matt Winquist Photography

Manufacturers:Corian,Daltile,Mechoshades,Modernfold

MEP engineering services:IMEG

Structural Engineering Company:Caruso Turley Scott, Inc.

Landscape Collaborator:TRUEFORM

LEED Consultancy:Quest Energy Group, LLC

Lead Project Designer:Kasey Josephs

Project Designer:Marco Rosero

Interior Designer:Vince Rieselman

Project Architect:Matt Johnson

Food Service:TriMark

City:Buckeye

Country:United States

Text description provided by the architects. John Dewey, at the turn of the 20th Century, put forth a vision for modern education and re-imagined a future in which schools “carefully balance the delivery of knowledge and learning through active inquiry”. John S. McCain III Elementary, the only school to be named after the late senator, embraces and epitomizes these ideals. The school is designed to support the C-STEM curriculum and also fosters social and emotional learning.

A community-led, collaborative, co-creation process was utilized to establish a design direction, embed the school into its larger context, and set up the school district for future success. The project had to overcome several challenges, the biggest of which was the COVID-19 Pandemic. Major design efforts had to transition to an online format in the spring of 2020, challenging the entire team to still maintain a holistic, community-driven/ co-creation process while maintaining safety.