Episcopal School of Dallas – Lower School

Size: 58,000 SF
Owner: Episcopal School of Dallas

Recognized by Engineering News Record as Best Project in K-12 Education in 2020, Episcopal School of Dallas’s new Lower School building included a ground-level tornado shelter within a 3-story host building, designed for 250 mph winds, windborne debris impact, and dynamic loading from collapse of floors and roof above and layover of neighboring existing buildings.

The Lower School houses indoor and outdoor classrooms and common learning “neighborhoods” on each floor, connected by a 3-story play structure and two-story indoor amphitheater, as well as exterior catwalks and communicating stairs cantilevered along the exterior of the building. Structural framing extensively includes architecturally exposed structural steel (AESS) and exposed structural connection detailing that are integral to both the architectural design and pedagogical vision for the building.