Woolpert and Great Bridge Primary School Earn Local and Statewide Design Honors

The Chesapeake school offers locally inspired environmental themes to inspire collaborative learning, sustainable design elements, and structural and methodological flexibility.

CHESAPEAKE, Va.— Woolpert and Great Bridge Primary School were recognized by local and state organizations recently for exceptional interior and exterior educational design. The Chesapeake, Va., school received the 2023 Award of Merit for Best Educational Building by the Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate and earned honorable mention in the Educational K-12 category of the 2023 Interior Design Excellence Awards. The latter is the combined awards program of the Virginia and West Virginia Chapter of the International Interior Design Association and the Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Woolpert provided architecture, interior design, engineering, and construction administration services for the newly constructed, 90,808-square-foot facility, which houses 630 students in pre-kindergarten through second grade. The school was designed to accommodate additional classrooms and adjustments to teaching methodology. The project incorporated sustainable design elements that included enhanced natural daylighting, energy-efficient mechanical equipment, and highly functional, low-flow plumbing fixtures.

Woolpert Interior Designer Felicia Heisterkamp said the school’s design was inspired by local environmental habitats, with each grade level characterized by its own concept. Pre-K and kindergarten spaces reflect a pond environment that emphasizes nature and exploration, first-grade spaces reflect a meadow environment that represents growth and expansion, and second-grade spaces reflect a forest environment that encourages strength and boldness.

“Great Bridge Primary was eager to bring its students out of the traditional learning climate and into the 21st-century learning atmosphere with an inspiring and colorful space,” Heisterkamp said. “The result was a strong focus on creative wayfinding and maximized flexibility for numerous collaborative opportunities, all influenced by a local habitat environment concept seen throughout the school.”

Heisterkamp said the design team was very intentional about incorporating textures, colors, and patterns that will promote curiosity and interaction.

“We are so excited to see how students and staff transform these spaces into their own year after year,” she said.

About Woolpert
Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG), and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private, and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is a Global Top 100 Geospatial Company, a Top 100 ENR Global Design firm, has earned seven Great Place to Work certifications, and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity, and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been America’s fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. Woolpert has over 2,000 employees and more than 60 offices on five continents. For more, visit woolpert.com