Shrub Oak International School Building

Adaptive Reuse

The Shrub Oak International School specializes in education for children and young adults with autism and offers full-time boarding, special care, and life skill programs. We designed the school by adapting a 400,000-square-foot former seminary that sits on 127 acres. The team coordinated with the school’s administrators to ensure that the school’s current and future needs would be met.

The interior design carefully balanced colors, textures, and lighting to be mindful of the student population’s sensitivities while still being attractive and playful enough to encourage academic engagement. The team replaced the old brick exterior with a glass curtain wall system and a covered vehicular porch for passenger drop-off, which reduced the apparent scale of the building and created a more welcoming entrance.

The lobby uses large windows and natural elements to emphasize views of the impressive grounds. Wood finishes and fish tanks add to the welcoming feel.