Showcasing Recent Examples

CAW Architects (CAW) has been at the forefront of reshaping California education through its award-winning educational portfolio for decades. To date, the firm has designed the first two LEED Platinum K-12 public school buildings in the Bay Area, a Net-Zero Energy Master Plan for a comprehensive public high school in Oakland, and substantial campus revitalizations at Stanford University with an established goal of becoming carbon neutral and utilizing 100% renewable energy. It has been well documented that there is a clear link between increased student performance and the environmental quality of the built environment.

Silver Creek High School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Berkeley Community Theater

Berkeley High School’s Building A houses the 3500-seat Community Theater and 560-seat Florence Schwimley Theater, in addition to classroom and support spaces for the school’s premier Visual and Performing Arts programs. However, the interior’s severely worn condition exhibited decades of use with few upgrades, while the cramped classroom spaces and oversized Community Theater no longer adequately served the students, faculty, or surrounding community. CAW Architects first undertook a planning study to develop a long-term renovation plan for the Theater Building in order to return it to a vibrant, safe, and accessible environment for performing arts and technical stagecraft students, and for the community.

Berkeley Community Theater
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Berkeley Community Theater
Photo credit:
Marco Zecchin

Berkeley Community Theater
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

The team then worked closely with the client to develop design solutions that addressed not only the building’s basic deficiencies, but also the future needs of the thriving performing arts programs. Design challenges included creating new classrooms and rehearsal spaces for music, drama, dance, and technical stagecraft programs by magnifying the available space and designing for flexible use within the existing building envelope, improving the function of the two performance spaces to better serve the performers, technicians, and audience members, and enhancing the building’s presence on the high school campus by enlivening the building’s front door, while securing the campus from public entrance. CAW Architects recently kicked off the next phase of development, focused on the renovation of the Florence Schwimley Theater and a reimagined student and public entrance to complete the modernization efforts of Building A.

Monterey High School Science Innovation Center

Strategically sited to leverage Monterey Bay’s stunning vistas, the new two-story, 12,500 SF campus addition integrates outdoor plazas at both the top and bottom of the steep site, offering outdoor learning spaces throughout. Despite its modest size, the addition significantly impacts the gathering and circulation spaces, introducing ramps and an interior elevator to navigate the steep grades. Furthermore, the building is uniquely perched to create commanding views over the football fields and ocean, creating a striking presence.

Monterey High School Science Innovation Center
Photo credit: Bruce Damonte

Monterey High School Science Innovation Center
Photo credit: Bruce Damonte

Monterey High School Science Innovation Center
Photo credit: Bruce Damonte

Silver Creek High School

For Silver Creek High School, CAW added a new feature building on the street corner, and a new front entrance to the campus. The building is sited so that the street-facing sides are more solid, with a playful pattern of windows and perforated sun shading to form the campus edge. The campus facing side features a forty-foot-wide sliding door that opens the building atrium to the new plaza for indoor-outdoor teaching and events. The central feature stair makes a gracious connection between the floors, and is also the focal point of the atrium. All ten classrooms face the atrium and have large garage doors that open the classrooms to the atrium. The clearstory windows ringing the atrium bring natural light deep into the building, and also cut direct glare. In addition to the new classrooms, the project added numerous indoor and outdoor casual spaces for students and improved the security at the edges of the campus.

Silver Creek High School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Silver Creek High School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Silver Creek High School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Silver Creek High School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Corte Madera School

CAW Architects’ new designs for the state-of-the-art Corte Madera School span two acres and feature two new buildings totaling 20,545 SF. Fully upgraded, energy-efficient systems throughout greatly reduce the district’s environmental footprint, putting the school on track for LEED silver certification.

Corte Madera School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Corte Madera School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Corte Madera School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Ormondale Elementary School

The new Ormondale Elementary campus promotes sustainability and dynamic learning. Spanning 8,891 SF, it features modern classrooms for art, music, science, and a “STEAM Lab” framed by a renovated courtyard that has been transformed into an interactive “sensory garden,” where the scents and colors of surrounding flowers and fruit trees activate the senses. Strategically sited buildings maximize natural light and views, creating a serene environment for K-3 students. Energy-efficient systems and solar design aim for LEED Silver certification, blending innovation with sustainability to foster a thriving learning space.

Ormondale Elementary School
Photo credit: Caitlin Atkinson

Ormondale Elementary School
Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

Photo credit: Marco Zecchin

CAW Architects

CAW aspires to change the world for the better, one beautifully designed project at a time. The firm’s commitment to architecture as an agent for social change is apparent in its award-winning body of work that champions educational and community-based projects. Whether designing new buildings on distinguished campuses, in vibrant downtowns or in stately neighborhoods, or adaptively reusing historic buildings in need of careful rehabilitation, CAW gives buildings a new lease on life, infusing them with energy and economic vitality.