Southside Elementary School – Madison Metropolitan School District

Before Southside Elementary School opened last fall on East Badger Road in Madison, students in the area had to be bused for more than 40 minutes to reach their schools.

“The primary objective of this project was to address the needs of an underserved area in the city of Madison, where students previously lacked adequate access to educational facilities,” said Alivia Cronin, marketing and business development specialist at Findorff.

The $23 million project consists of a three-story, 43,000-square-foot elementary addition and renovation to an existing 19,000-square-foot building, which houses the Badger Rock Neighborhood Center and Badger Rock Middle School.

Findorff served as the construction manager on the project, while EUA oversaw the architecture work. The design of the school was largely driven by feedback from parents, students and community members in the neighborhood.

“Bringing elementary and middle school students together onto one site allows students to benefit from mentorship opportunities between the older and younger students, smoother transitions when students migrate to the next grade level and shared onsite resources,” Cronin said.

The elementary school addition features classrooms and advanced learning spaces, a commons area, a large gym, a library media center, a rooftop courtyard with a green roof and skylight and a welcome center.

“Because this project involved adding onto a currently occupied middle school, it presented many unique challenges and required specialized planning, execution and collaboration between contractors and management to seamlessly connect the spaces, limit the disruption to staff and students in the existing building and ensure the project continued safely and on schedule,” Cronin said.