DeVetter Design Group led a team of the talented Minnesotan engineering and design consultants to win a competition for a new prototype high-performance elementary school in the Elk River School District. The winning design focuses on flexibility for educational programs and modularity for core areas to provide an adaptable prototype for construction on different sites.

The facility is designed for 1,000 students and features a student commons area and media center that overlook a pond, with educational stations, an administration space that can monitor the school site and public entrances, and a classroom block that is designed to be universally flexible. The project will reduce the lighting and cooling loads by incorporating a daylighting strategy, natural ventilation, and high-performance mechanical design strategies.