The Washington International School Tregaron Science building is a brand new, state-of-the-art, 57,000 SF, four-story educational facility located on the school’s six-acre campus within the Tregaron Conservancy in Washington, DC. The campus serves middle and high school students across multiple buildings and is anchored by a historic 1912 Georgian Revival mansion at the top of the site.

The project includes a new science-focused building with classrooms, advanced labs, multipurpose gathering spaces, conference areas, and a central cafeteria that supports the broader campus. While it significantly expands the school’s academic program, the building had to be carefully designed to fit within a tight, historically sensitive site without disrupting the overall character of the campus. To achieve this, a large portion of the structure is built into the hillside. Two levels extend below grade beneath the existing soccer field, using light wells, landscaped areaways, and strategically placed windows to bring in natural light. This approach helped reduce the visual presence of the building while still creating bright, usable interior spaces that feel connected to the outdoors.

The new Tregaron Science building ultimately delivers a modern learning environment that supports science education while respecting the existing campus. It’s a project that required careful planning, coordination, and execution to successfully introduce new construction into a highly constrained and occupied site.

This project includes a complete renovation of the existing historic building and new construction additions to create a modernized learning space. The new school will consist of physical education space and dining services, discovery commons spaces, small group rooms, and resource rooms to accommodate special projects, collaborative work, and individual pull-out instruction. The project will be designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification, green roof credits, Energy Star Certification, and incorporate NetZero strategies. The substantial completion date is October 15, 2024.

The John Francis Education Campus modernization will be roughly 126,000 SF, serving approximately 680 students. Classrooms will be created to accommodate a 21st-century learning environment and meet DCPS education specification standards. In addition to classrooms, discovery commons spaces, small group rooms, and resource rooms will be integrated into the design to accommodate special projects, collaborative work, and individual pull-out instruction. The new modernized design shall allow for dining and physical education services.

The Raymond Elementary School project will create an 85,000 SF learning facility to bring the Raymond ES in line with the District of Columbia Public Schools Educational Specifications, including discovery commons spaces, small group rooms, and resource rooms. The project is seeking LEED Gold Certification.

The Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan (CHML) serves students from all eight wards in the District of Columbia. This complex modernization project involved the renovation of the historic building, removing the classroom trailer annex, and constructing a substantial three-part building addition encompassing 97,000 square feet. This $62M expansion of the only Montessori school in D.C.’s public school system incorporates a Children’s House and a co-located middle school for PK3-8 students, which now allows for an increase in enrollment from 362 to 495.  

The CHML school achieved LEED Gold Certification and incorporated geothermal heating and cooling technology, aligning with sustainability and environmental impact best practices outlined in the Mayor’s Sustainable DC initiative. CHML’s configuration provides students with 10+ outdoor classrooms, an outdoor recreation area, and a rooftop turf field.  

The third Rocketship DC Public Charter School includes 26 classrooms, three special education classrooms, two cafeterias, learning labs, a lobby, a nurse’s suite, administrative offices, a gym, and multiagora space. The school is located in a unique site with a prominent residential community. The exterior facade and colors are reminiscent of the houses and residential spaces surrounding the school, making an aesthetic tie between the school and the neighborhood. This project is designed to achieve LEED Platinum Certification.

KIPP DC Benning Road houses early education, elementary and middle schools. MCN Build constructed the 30,000SF addition to the campus. Situated on a narrow site, the classrooms are located on Benning Road’s corridor that spans two blocks. The addition is comprised of a two-level underground parking garage and three levels of classroom and office space. The entrance lobby, open with glass to all sides and level with the sidewalk, was finished in time for the 2021 school year.

MCN expanded and renovated KIPP DC’s M.C. Terrell Campus. The project provided interior renovations to the existing building, including upgrades to the cafeteria and gymnasium and a connection to the new 20,000 SF early childhood education school. The project involved an entire site redevelopment with additional parking, a multipurpose field, and outdoor play space. The KIPP DC M.C. Terrell Campus was completed in time for the 2021 school year.