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School name
Benjamin Franklin Elementary School

Client
Lake Washington School District

Location
Kirkland, WA

Grade levels
Grades K - 6

Number of students
500 students

Building size
56,800 square feet

Previously on this site
The new school was constructed in the open space directly behind the original 1950's building. When the new building was finished, the old school was demolished.

Architect
Mahlum Architects. Seattle, WA

Timeline / Project schedule
building completed August 2005

Mahlum Architects, the Seattle architecture firm that designed Benjamin Franklin Elementary, specializes in designing educational buildings. As architect Anne Schopf explains, "this was meant to be a building that relates to its neighborhood, to the nearby forest, and to the surrounding natural environment in the Pacific northwest."

The new school includes three clusters of classrooms - one for kindergarten and grades 1 and 2; another for grades 3 and 4; and a third for grades 5 and 6. These classroom clusters create two courtyards surrounded by hallways lined with glass.

The firm of Mahlum Architects began in Seattle in 1938, with architects Edward Mahlum, AIA and Paul Hayden Kirk, FAIA joining forces in the early years of the firm.

Today Mahlum is led by Design Partner Anne Schopf, FAIA; Managing Partner Gerald Reifert, FAIA; and Operations Partner Diane Shiner, AIA.The firm has won over 65 professional awards in 2011.

Typical projects for the firm include: healthcare facilities, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, civic buildings, and commercial buildings.

• Benjamin Franklin Elem Elevations 1.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem Elevations 2.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem Elevations 3.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem First Floor Plan.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem Second Floor Plan.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem Site Plan - existing+new.pdf
• Benjamin Franklin Elem Site Plan.pdf