Turowski2 Architecture, Inc. was selected as designer to address the needs for two elementary schools in Hanson, MA. A Feasibility study and analysis was conducted of existing schools; the Maquan Elementary School, Grades Pre-K through 2nd, (1966 with 1989 additions) and the Indian Head School, Grades 3rd through 5th,(1952 with various additions as late as 1999). It was determined by the Building Committee that the most efficient solution to fully meet the town’s educational needs was to consolidate the two schools into a single Pre-K to 5 facility. This would eliminate the redundancies in the two schools and provide a new state of the art, energy efficient building.

The building is designed as a school within a school concept, with the lower elementary grades on the first floor, and the upper elementary grades on the second floor- giving each its own identity. Classroom clusters plug into a central core where shared facilities are housed, including the administration, gymnasium, cafeteria, music, art, library and a multipurpose room among other. The building design reflects the town’s library across the street, and borrows scale elements from the predominately residential neighborhood.