Mamie D. Lee School

Bridges and Briya Public Charter Schools were awarded the Mamie D. Lee Campus, an underutilized Washington, D.C. public school building and grounds for redevelopment. Originally constructed in 1967, the Mamie D. Lee School was designed for “special-needs” children, so the campus seemed like an ideal pairing for a site, building and program. Collectively, their vision is to create a site with wraparound services for children and families with a focus on those with special needs. Their campus partnering realizes this vision of providing a full spectrum of education programming from infant and toddler to adults. With aspirations to extend services to the families, and other supportive community adults, Bridges and Briya constructed more space than their program needs for leasing to Mary’s Center Community Health Education, Training and Research. Mary’s Center is a federally qualified health center that provides health care, family literacy and social services to individuals whose needs too often go unmet by the private systems. Mary’s Center Community Health Center provides counseling and medical service to their families as well as the surrounding community. The original campus had evolved as a disjointed cluster of three one-story and one two-story buildings partially encircled by asphalt and grouped around a stepped concrete plaza. The central two-story building was salvaged and interlaced two new wings of 2-story and 3-story additions. The resulting “U”-shaped building reorients massing toward an adjacent National Park Service parkland to the north while defining a new level central courtyard entry for a safe and accessible entry and play. As a learning tool, the schools collaborate to have their student’s aid in the planting and maintenance of the landscape. The perimeter is striated with a rhythm of vertical windows resulting in an exemplary performing 100 percent daylighting and views to classrooms and core learning spaces. The facility is designed with a sloped roof system; however, the slope is established with the levels to support an extensive green roof system. Given the stringent storm water requirements of the D.C., paired with the zoned parking mandates, green roofs are a vital component in treating stormwater on site. Highly durable materials with recycled content and appropriate indoor environmental quality characteristics are critical selections when specifying interior, and exterior, finishing materials. Bridges and Briya have and exterior material palette selected specifically to be enduring and low maintenance. Cement board and simulated wood panel of laminated craft paper enclose the outer shell.