Garland Schools

Little Rock, Arkansas

Project Details
37,000 square feet
1924 historic structure renovation

The Garland Elementary School in Little Rock is a 1924 Collegiate Gothic school building recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building ceased to operate as an elementary school in 2001, after which it served other administration needs for the Little Rock Public School system until the WER team began renovations of the school in 2017. 

The building had undergone several renovations and additions over the decades to meet the changing and growing needs of the school. Two additions to the building significantly altered the front face making it hard to determine the front of the building, and the two-story auditorium was infilled for additional classroom spaces on the first and second floors. However much of the historical interior and exterior elements, including wood trim, plaster walls and exterior decorative brick-work, remained intact.

Renovations to the building included designing new main entries, adding modern classroom amenities and technology, and replacing windows that matched more closely to the original 1924 window style. Many of this building’s historic features were restored such as the wood door frames and transoms and two historic skylights above the stairs which were uncovered during construction and repaired. Other historical elements such as the wood trim surrounding the original slate chalkboards were also restored and incorporated with new whiteboards and media walls to continue to serve as part of the classroom teaching design. A new outdoor classroom and two playgrounds were included in the renovations to provide more outdoor learning opportunities for students. 

The school will serve the Friendship Aspire Academy Charter School beginning in 2019 with a population of 450 students from kindergarten to 4th grade.