Los Angeles Unified School District - Elementary School (E.S. #3 & #4)

Owen Design was chosen to provide complete Architectural and Engineering design services for this new elementary school (E.S. #4) project for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The 4.70-acres site is located in LAUSD’s South Region, in the City of Bell.

The proposed new Span School and Early Education Center (EEC) will have 951 new seats and is estimated to cost $27.8 million. The Space Program outlines a new school of approximately 69,428 square feet. The school will have 775 elementary school seats and 176 EEC seats. The scope of work includes the design of all new structures, an underground parking facility and complete on-site and off-site improvements for this project.

The elementary school component, the EEC component and all associated spaces are envisioned as a single structure and will be site adapted to ES#3 in the city of Cudahy.

Mountain View Continuation High School, Santa Ana Unified School District

OWEN Group is the Structural Engineer of Record. This new construction project is a small high school for 400 Students for the Santa Ana Unified School District, and is designed for a tiny 1.9 acre parcel and an additional 0.2 acres across the street from the school's main entrance. The latter parcel is used only for additional student parking.

The site is fortunately bounded on the north and west side by alleys which provides access to partially subterranean parking garages. These garages extend under most of the structures' two wings. A stair and elevator tower separates the garage under each wing and provides access to all levels of the school. The school will have a kitchen and multipurpose room with a stage for student activities. The District wanted to include provisions for a small soccer field and outdoor basketball. Excavation from the parking garage will be used to raise the level of the field to the same level as the courtyard covered walkway and lunch shelter, thereby reducing significantly the amount of export from the site.

The school is designed to support security concerns as this school will be situated in one of the most heavy gang areas in Santa Ana. Numerous meeting were held with community and security forces to address these concerns. Neighborhood access to the school after hours was also addressed in the design. The architect also resolved all major issues which were of concern to the City of Santa Ana.