The Franklin
School Early
Learning
Center

Client
Northside Development Group
Location
Spartanburg, SC
Completion date
December 2018

Located in Spartanburg, South Carolina's Northside, The Franklin School is an early learning facility offering high-quality education to children age birth to five years. RDG's design reflects the community's focus on ensuring access to exceptional education with expansive, light-filled educational spaces where children can learn through discovery. 

Layout for the 28,000-SF building is designed to mimic building blocks, with spaces dedicated to formal classroom and programmatic functions, and informal gathering areas interspersed throughout. A multicolored glass-clad form rises above the building, defining the school as a place for young learners and a beacon of education in the community. Echoing the program's continued growth, an exterior canopy stretches to the playgrounds, extending outwards to the community and building a relationship between interior and exterior learning environments to encourage learning beyond classroom walls. The building's unique design offers inviting and safe spaces for children to learn through discovery, promoting optimal brain and social development through creative, hands-on activities and play. 

Colorful outward expression of the child-based program.
Ample, daylit entry fosters internal interactions and visual connection to neighborhood.
Space to support learning outside the classroom.
Classroom supporting needs of child and teacher.
The in-between spaces foster interactions.
Awards
Outstanding Design Citation Pre-K & Early Childhood
Architectural Portfolio
2019