Hildreth Elementary

The almost 7.8-acre Hildreth Elementary School is located in bucolic Harvard, Massachusetts, and was awarded to the design team by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The team worked through several feasibility studies and the Town voted to build a new school adjacent to the existing elementary school. Terraink was involved throughout the Schematic Design, Design Development, and Construction Document phases of the project to assist the team in achieving the project’s overall programmatic, aesthetic, and budgetary goals.
The Town of Harvard boasts a stunning, agrarian countryside, which heavily informed the evolution of the landscape design, which integrates rain gardens and natural stone seating/climbing/play elements within formations that mimic the corn furrows that are so reminiscent of the school’s natural context. The design maintains clear visibility from Massachusetts Avenue to the gorgeous new school structure and throughout its varied play, gathering, and outdoor classroom spaces.