Project Description
Client: Chaparrel Middle School
Location: Diamond Bar, CA
Buildings: Permanent Modular Classrooms
Project Overview
At Modus System, Inc., we are Redefining Modular ™. Our single-minded dedication to quality and innovation has enabled us to become what we are today: California’s benchmark builder of Modular Classrooms, Gymnasiums and MPR buildings for K-12 school districts and charter schools. This has led to the development of our trademarked building strategy, called Modular Expandability ™. It has also provided us with the impetus for creating a blueprint for designing and building the classrooms of the future.
The first of these classrooms has changed the shape of modular classroom construction both today and into the future. These new classrooms, being built by Modus Systems, Inc., open up a dramatically new and improved platform for learning in today’s hi-tech world.
In a Modus-designed classroom, gone are conventional walls and ceilings. In their place are construction elements exposed throughout the inner structure, openly engaging students’innate curios- ity and creating an environment that fosters an interactive, flexible space for learning. Vertical and horizontal joints, X braces, lateral supports and fittings, are all totally visible, challenging students to use their analytical minds to figure out how things are connected, and to ultimately identify cause and effect and train themselves to think in a manner consistent with today’s Design Based Learning.
Further enhanced by the brilliantly coordinated use of soothing colors, the feeling of “openness”from within extends to the outside environment. Loft architecture gives the feeling of being outdoors. Windows replace walls, with even the doors themselves being all glass Bi-Fold Nano doors. Artificial light is replaced by skylights, through which the sun shines. Another plus is that these new class- rooms are more efficient to maintain, and they are surprisingly affordable to build.
The Result
Designing and building these new classrooms for Redondo proved to be a labor of love for Modus and a revelation for the school. Differing in size, some classrooms measuring 24’ x 40’ and others 30’ x 32’, all are bright and airy and distinguished by a feeling of openness, thanks to 11’ x 3’ tall ceilings, drop down ceiling fans that keep the air circulating at all times, skylights that provide an abundance of natural light in all of the classrooms, and a Teaching Wall with a multi-purpose white board and storage system that eliminates clutter and maximizes classroom space. Two teacher areas include a wash station, sinks and a drinking fountain.
