Boora Architects

Crystal Springs Uplands School (CSUS) is an independent college preparatory school in the Bay Area for grades 6-12 with a culture that revolves around small class size, personal attention, hands-on learning and community service.

To further their academic mission, Boora is designing a new middle school campus for CSUS on a dramatic site in Belmont Canyon. Because the new middle school is not physically adjacent to the main campus, great care has been taken to culturally unify the two schools.

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The new campus is a series of structures organized along a formal axis that links outdoor activity space with indoor academic and social functions. The Academic Center is the site’s main structure, housing two floors of classrooms that flank the Great Hall and outdoor terrace. The building’s u-shaped configuration provides panoramic views of the canyon and lake below.  Flexible classroom space easily transitions between traditional and group teaching configurations and dedicated social space for each grade level provides a place for students to gather and study.

Secondary structures include a gymnasium, multi-purpose/cafe building and a storage building.

By deconstructing the campus in this way, the site integrates the outdoor space into the everyday student life and fosters an intimacy of scale and non-institutional feel.