The painstaking work to design a structure that would incorporate two historic educational buildings has earned Anne Arundel County Public Schools a national award.
The $20.2 million transformation of Annapolis Elementary School and its connection with the Philip L. Brown and Rachel Hall Brown Building next door has been named a 2017 Outstanding Project by Learning by Design magazine, a leading journal for education design and excellence. The project earned its honors in the Remodel/Adaptive Reuse/Restoration category.
“The Annapolis Elementary facility is a shining star in terms of incorporating historical design with educational functionality,” Superintendent George Arlotto said. “It offers our students so many opportunities, and its architecture serves to excite and inspire students and staff alike.”
The school, which sits a few hundred yards from City Dock and can house more than 300 students, connects the original 1895 building with the 1908 Hall Building, which once served as the county school system’s headquarters and later housed administrative offices such as the Transportation Division. The Hall Building was dedicated in 2010 in honor of longtime educators Philip L. Brown and his wife, Rachel. Mr. Brown was an educator, historian, author, and civil rights pioneer who spent 42 years teaching county students. He played a vital role in the integration of schools and in achieving equal pay for African-American educators. Mrs. Brown also spent 42 years in education in Anne Arundel County.
Smolen Emr Ilkovitch Architects designed the facility.
Learning By Design hails the project as one that “develops a 21st century learning environment featuring the historic significance of the building and site, the urban context of the State Capital and Naval Academy, and proximity to the Chesapeake Bay watershed as learning tools.”