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FGM Architects, Wingate Elementary, Mascoutah School District

Spotlight on Southwestern Illinois Engineers and Architects
 
FGM Architects, Wingate Elementary, Mascoutah School District

 

By JENNIFER K. HASAMEAR
    District officials remain excited about Wingate Elementary, which was designed to support the curriculum and to provide a learning environment which will foster student’s efforts to realize and achieve their academic potential.
    “This building offers our students and staff many beautiful spaces including the media center, multi-purpose room, cafeteria, gymnasium and the centralized learning areas within each grade level,” said Dr. Craig Fiegel, superintendent of Mascoutah Community Unit School District 19.
    “We had a vision as a staff and FGM Architects was able to capture all those ideas and put them into reality with the building’s design. Wingate Elementary will not only be able to meet our growing student population but also the continuing changing landscape of the 21st Century education.”
    Opened in August 2015, the $17.5 million elementary school features a two-story media center, gymnasium, cafeteria and a multi-purpose room equipped with an operable partition, which connects to the cafeteria allowing for additional seating. Sustainable design elements were incorporated throughout the building, including daylighting, a heat-reflective roof as well as energy efficient exterior envelope and building systems.
    The 83,494-square-foot building, which houses kindergarten through fifth grade, is designed to give each grade level its own wing with up to three classrooms. Every wing also has a centralized learning area, which includes sinks for experiments and other projects along with moveable walls to create highly flexible, dynamic teaching spaces. All classrooms are also equipped with Wi-Fi and smartboards.
    To alleviate overcrowding at Mascoutah Elementary, which enrolled nearly 1,000 students in 2014, district officials decided the best option was to construct a new school – Wingate Elementary. The existing building has the capacity to hold up to 450 students. Expansion of the school is possible with a constructed shell connected to the existing school which enables the building to increase by an additional 28,500 square feet. As the need arises, the completion of this portion will allow for a total student capacity of 850 students.
    For more information about FGM Architects, go to fgmarchitects.com.

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