Colegio Maya is a co-educational day school offering an international education program for students in Pre-K through 12th grade. Enrollment is approximately 314 students representing over 20 different nations. It is located on the Carretera El Salvador in the hillside suburbs of Guatemala City on a 3.6-hectare campus filled with trees, flowers and foliage. Flansburgh worked with the school in 2013 to create a long range master plan, and is currently designing the first major project, the 1800 sq.m. (19,375 sf) Innovation Hub. This transformational building envisioned by the school’s director would engage students in the three stages of innovation: conceptualizing, researching, and designing; prototyping, creating and modeling; and presenting, launching, and marketing.
The design is a three-story building at the center of the academic campus that includes a library for upper school students linked to design technology labs and a teaching kitchen on the first floor, design workshops and art rooms on the second floor, and a 100-person presentation room and lower school library on the third floor. The building uses the steeply sloping site to create direct outdoor access from each level, and uses rooftop terraces for outdoor learning or work spaces. From the front of campus, the building has a recognizable and iconic presence overlooking the main administration. From the other side within the school's unique natural playscape, the building is a house among the trees, connecting the early childhood and elementary schools to the upper floor library.
Type | New Academic Facility |
Client | Colegio Maya |
Design Team | Kelley Banks, Principal-in-Charge; Joseph Marshall, Project Architect |
Local Architect | Paredes Alemán Arquitectos |
Renderings | Michael Banks |