DAHLIN Architecture Takes on School Makeovers

DAHLIN Architecture, with offices downtown, is expanding its San Diego practice by designing complete campus makeovers for several schools in the San Diego Unified School District.

The firm is redesigning the campuses of Paradise Hills Elementary School in Paradise Hills, Rowan Elementary School in Fairmont Park, and Pacific View Leadership Elementary School in Paradise Hills.

DAHLIN also is starting preliminary design work on Marvin Elementary School in Allied Gardens and Clay Elementary School in El Cerrito.

“We’re pursuing other school district work and looking to offer our design services, our approach and our passion for place and bringing that to the education sector,” said Elizabeth Sabol, a principal and senior architect at DAHLIN.

“One of the things that we focused on for the education sector was the word transformation,” Sabol said, and with existing campuses, “we’re able to transform them. It’s really impactful for students and staff.”

Sabol said that the $18.5-million renovation of Rowan Elementary School is among the most extensive of the San Diego projects.

Construction is starting this summer and is expected to finish in the fall of 2025.

“The only building that was not touched by the modernization was the library, which was a little bit newer,” Sabol said.

Student Help

Like many schools built in the 1950s, Sabol said that the administrative offices at Rowan Elementary were small with low ceilings of about eight feet.

“Schools were built cookie cutter in a very rapid pace and so all the classrooms were essentially the same,” Sabol said. “We call them the finger plan school, because you have one classroom and then, 20 feet later, you have the same classroom, then another 20 feet later, you have another of the same classroom.”

Built in 1956, Rowan Elementary “was designed in a style that was typical for the time, with low, long eaves and covered walkways throughout the campus,” said Clarke Forrest, DAHLIN job captain.

The renovation will create a single entry to the school, expanding the administrative offices and reworking the security fences so they won’t look so oppressive.

The redesigned entry still has a security fence, but it’s colorful vertical bars instead of chain-link.

“When we redesigned the existing administration building, we not only bumped the space out and away from the fences, but we also increased the ceiling heights both inside and outside of the addition and wrapped the corner at the entrance with glass,” Forrest said. “Inside the administration addition, we added a bright, but tasteful, teal blue on the back wall with the name of the school written in high eight-inch-high white letters. This serves as a welcome distraction, pulling the user both visually and physically into the new administration space, removing focus from the security fence and putting it on something a little more fun and interesting.”

A seating wall will be added in front of the office, and a new shed roof will cover the office.

“It’s a very simple design in some regards, but it has a higher volume, so when you walk into the office, it will be very open,” Sabol said. “The American flag will be very prominent as you’re walking up to the building.”

Along with the facelift, the changes will make the school and parking lot more accessible for the disabled.

“It will definitely look different, and it will have a new presence,” Sabol said, with new signs inside and out to help it stand out.

As it is, the existing school blends in with its surroundings.

“It’s kind of hard to see,” Sabol said.

The classrooms also are getting a fresh look, “which is essentially removing all the interior finishes and replacing them with new,” Sabol said. “We’re also introducing color, just a livelier palette of colors to kind of brighten the spaces that the students are occupying all day.”

Rowan Elementary students helped with the renovation by painting a mural that depicts the school mascot, a road runner, and a book with a rainbow.

“It was all based on ideas that the students had,” Sabol said.

DAHLIN Architecture

Founded:  1976
Headquarters:  Pleasanton, CA
CEO/President:  Nancy Keenan
Business:  Architecture, planning, and interior design
Employees:  180
Website:  https://www.dahlingroup.com
Contact: 858-350-0544
Notable: DAHLIN is a diverse architecture, planning and interiors practice. The firm works with developers, local governments, and private clients.