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As designers imagine the future of educational buildings, the values and materials of today will inform school environments for decades to come. With priorities around durability, longevity, cost-efficiency, and ease of installation, metal plays a starring role in high-traffic educational spaces. For its renewability, durability, and ever-evolving versatility, architectural metal offers long-term solutions that bring beauty, reliability and safety to schools. At Presidio Knolls School in San Francisco, and the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences in Seattle, leading metal manufacturer BŌK Modernʼs solutions have set a new standard for how educational spaces are designed and experienced.

Photo © Kevin Quach

Located in San Franciscoʼs SoMa District, Presidio Knolls School is a serene escape from the bustling city. Studio Bondy Architecture was tasked with renovating the PKS campus, including two historic buildings and the main U-Wing building containing the interior courtyard. The team wanted to design a new public-facing identity while creating a safe, enduring environment for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. They called on BŌK Modern to design custom metal treatments for the buildingʼs exterior facade, front gate, interior stairs, and balcony guardrails to strike that balance.

Photo © Kevin Quach

“The distinctive element of the facade and interior courtyard is the perforated metal screen used across all solutions. The pattern is based on a Chinese ice-ray design, a common motif in wood lattice window designs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,” says Laura Rambin, Principal at Studio Bondy Architecture. “On the street-facing facade, the pattern decreases in density as it rises to the third story of the building, giving a feeling of lightness. Within the interior courtyard, the pattern creates dynamic shadows and has the effect of standing in a bamboo forest.”

Photo © Kevin Quach

Designing patterns for "kid-centric" environments can be challenging, so BŌK and Studio Bondy Architecture carefully selected a pattern that didnʼt prohibit climbing but naturally discouraged them from doing so. The custom ice-ray design has holes too small for toes and feet to fit, and narrow vertical openings prevent anyone from crawling through.

Photo © Rachel Godbe

For the common areas of the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences' new STREAM building, The Miller Hull Partnership tapped BŌK Modern to collaborate on guardrails, stairs, and louver covers for the schoolʼs interior. The fun and open patterning, combined with a consistent look, helped to unify the space for students and faculty alike.

Photo © Rachel Godbe

Turning structural staircases into textural focal points, BŌK Modern fabricated their panels from 14GA steel, with a primer and powder-coated finish for durability. Specified in the A26 pattern across all solutions, the finished products elevate the staircases above essential elements of the complex while letting the studentʼs art installations shine.

Photo © Rachel Godbe

Providing architects and designers with endless possibilities to create engaging and resilient educational environments that can withstand the test of time, architectural metals offer sustainable, cost-saving solutions that will be part of a schoolʼs identity for decades to come. Inspiring creativity and enhancing learning, BŌK Modernʼs educational projects embrace metal for its durability and design potential.