SCC Building Award Winning School Facilities

Roebling School Pre-K to 8th Grade

Trenton, NJ (November 2002) - AIA NJ a chapter of the American Institute of Architects have awarded the design firm of Clarke Caton Hintz with its Silver Medal Design Award for their design of the new Roebling School in Trenton. This award is presented to firms whose architectural projects exhibit design excellence.

The Roebling School is a new pre-kindergarten to 8th grade school in Trenton, New Jersey and will house 650 students. Trenton does not have enough open space to build a new school of this magnitude, so it was decided to utilize a 94,000 square foot industrial building (built circa 1924) in the historic Roebling complex as the main body of the school. The Roebling complex was created to produce steel rope used in suspension bridges (most notably the Brooklyn, Golden Gate, and Ben Franklin bridges), elevators, and in early commercial aircraft. After years of neglect, this center has been transformed into a catalyst for Trenton's revitalization and growth. Housing, museums, shops, offices, light rail, movie studios and an arena are all part of a holistic vision developed for the neighborhood.

Roebling School Entry

The Trenton School District has created a new program for the school to focus on technology and the history of technology - the building and site will become part of the teaching curriculum. The interiors of the school will expose the historic cranes and will preserve and display salvaged machinery throughout the corridors. The exterior courtyard space will incorporate historic fragments such as rail lines, restored signage, and secured machinery to enhance the richness of the space. The vast expanses of glazing around the perimeter of the building have been reserved for classroom spaces while service elements are placed in the central core of the building. The tightly spaced concrete mushroom columns are celebrated in the first floor hallways, classrooms, and cafeteria while the impressive steel trusses and skylights on the second floor are playfully exposed in the media center and corridors. The entry and gymnasium additions incorporate inverted roof forms similar in proportion to the clerestory windows in adjacent industrial buildings. The classroom spaces are designed to stimulate the students with a varied material palette, loft-like ceilings, and enormous expanses of operable windows.

"We are excited that a 21st Century Technology School will be built on a site that was a 19th Century technology center and pioneer," said Trenton Public Schools Superintendent, James H. Lytle. "We are hoping to have displays, pictures, design features that will bring the history to life."

The first phase of the project includes the adaptive re-use of Building 54 as well as entry and gymnasium additions. The second phase will further the development of the site by adapting buildings 52, 58, and 62 into educational uses and utilizing buildings 51 and 57 as administrative space for the school district. A potential third phase will develop the southern portion of the site with structured parking, additional playground space, and the creation of the "Kid's Bridge" children's museum. The result of these phases will not only be a fully restored and preserved historic site but also a unique, campus-like community of learning for the children of Trenton, and a national model of urban redevelopment. "This proves that we are building schools of the 21st Century with award winning design," said NJ Schools Corporation CEO, Al McNeill. "All children deserve the best, and Trenton Public Schools' children will soon have the opportunity to learn in a state-of-the-art facility."

Top of Page