Client: San Diego Unified School District

Building Area (SF):

Wilson Middle School: 183,330 sf

Central ES: 107,382 sf

17.08 AC; 88,410

Wilson Middle School was originally built in 1924 as a two-story colonial style building on El Cajon Blvd. After decades of urban disinvestment following the introduction of the Interstate, the boulevard has had a recent resurgence of development in public transportation, retail, affordable housing and community support services.

The aging Wilson Middle School needed full reconstruction. Simultaneously, Central Elementary School, located a few blocks away, required relocation. The Mid-City community and School District aspired to consolidate the schools onto the existing Middle School site, now known as the George Walker Smith Education Campus. This 14-acre site needed to accommodate the Middle and Elementary school programs, community programs,  joint-use facilities, and shared parking.

The resulting campus has three zones: Wilson Middle School on the west; Community and shared programming in the center; and Central Elementary School on the east. The Performing Arts Center presents a new campus identity along El Cajon Blvd. The massing of the new Campus respects the scale surrounding neighborhood of single-family homes and low-rise apartment buildings. Campus staff and community groups requested that the campus align with the original neighborhood street network, thus, 38th Street, previously removed from this site, was reinserted as a publicly-accessible linear park that hosts open-air markets.

Both schools emphasize “community cultural infrastructure” with urban linkages and circulation routes that are organized around various interior and exterior learning, gathering, and play spaces. Many of the exterior spaces are designed for specific programs:  Science Gardens, Maker Space Patio, Music Plaza and Collaborative Nooks. These indoor-outdoor connections create a healthy and sustainable learning environment, contributing to the design’s CHPS-criteria achievement.

Both campuses are at the forefront of sustainability best practices including many features that become part of the building and site expression. These design elements also become part of the curriculum and pedagogy as demonstrated by building energy savings and solar energy from photovoltaic panels, which are expected to produce more than 75% of the campus’ demand energy. These panels and tree canopies act as shade elements cooling the spaces between the buildings. Passive and active ventilation along with natural daylight fills the spaces along with views into nearby landscape spaces. When the weather gets hot, there is a backup controls system for active HVAC systems. Native, drought tolerant landscape and water conservation strategies are also employed throughout the campus along with stormwater storage.

Through a comprehensive series of community outreach meetings and design workshops, the Wilson Middle and Central Elementary Schools at the George Walker Smith Education Campus have been well-received by the San Diego Mid City community.