Community Education Center

| El Monte, CA

Our Process

El Monte Union High School District sought to proactively transform a storefront shell in their centrally located district office into the Community Education Center (CEC), to create an alternative education site for distance learning, collaboration, and community events. A study of local geography resulted in a design concept marrying El Monte’s location between two key river aquifers and the fluidity necessary for successful collaborative learning. Three learning zones are designed to correspond to the three porosities of aquifer recharge: independent study, one-on-one workspace, and collaboration zone. Each distinct zone is expressed through unifying conceptual and physical qualities, such as color, carpet pattern and finish selections. The CEC models future-ready learning environments of optimal collaboration, flexibility, and academic success for underserved communities – goals pivotal to our post-pandemic world.

FACTS
Program: Distance learning, collaborative learning zones, independent study, academic advisement, community events.
Completed: 2020