• Community School of Music and Art

    Community School of Music and Arts

    Mountain View, California

    International Architecture Award, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, 2008
    Architecture Award, Business Week/Architectural Record, 2004
    Excellence in Design Award, San Francisco AIA, 2004

  • Community School of Music and Art

    Community School of Music and Arts

    Mountain View, California

    International Architecture Award, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, 2008
    Architecture Award, Business Week/Architectural Record, 2004
    Excellence in Design Award, San Francisco AIA, 2004

This facility provides practice rooms, studios, a recital hall and administrative space for this community based arts organization. Given the limited site area, the building was planned around a series of outdoor courtyards. The large central courtyard provides an activity area for the students and a place for outdoor concerts. The courtyard is paved with cast stone pavers and is planted with flowering pear trees and a large oak. A smaller courtyard, enclosed by vine covered walls, is used as a play area by the younger students. A third courtyard, planted with a grove of flowering redbud trees, provides entry to the building and serves as an outdoor gathering place for the large recital hall. A simple palette of plant materials was used to complement the architectural character of the building.