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Bachmann Collaboration Building, Flintridge Prep School
La Canada Flintridge, CA
Shaping leaders.
Bringing together STEAM, global studies, and leadership in one state-of-the-art facility.
Dynamic, interactive, and accessible
The Bachmann Collaboration Building at Flintridge Preparatory School is a new STEAM facility anchoring the north end of the academic core of the Flintridge campus. The third phase in a $20+ million master plan, it vertically integrates design thinking, research, and student enterprise in a dynamic, collaborative facility.

The building brings together three distinct programs: STEM, global studies, and leadership, seamlessly interconnecting them through common areas and an open, skylit central stair linking all levels of the building. To the south of the atrium, the instructional wing has been structured for maximum flexibility. The spaces in the leadership building encourage movement from one space to another through operable openings, highly flexible furniture, and thoughtful integration of instructional media, allowing for easy reconfiguration of the space.

The design emphasizes transparency and strong connections between indoor and outdoor learning spaces in support of a comprehensive STEM program. On the ground floor, glass doors provide a direct link between the athletic field and the atrium, and the art studio and maker space have glazed, bi-fold overhead doors to allow supervised activity to spill out onto adjacent work terraces.
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Results
The Bachmann Collaboration Building (BCB) brings together three distinct programs, STEAM, global studies, and leadership, seamlessly interconnecting them through common areas and an open, skylit central stair.
The 17,000 SF, 3-story building completes the north end of the campus and enhances interconnectivity, bridging the upper campus with its academic focus to the lower campus sports field and athletic facilities by means of an exterior bridge and staircase as well as an internal central stair and atrium.
BCB has been designed to embody sustainable principals including: choice of natural ventilation when appropriate, high amounts of natural light, indoor / outdoor spaces including a roof terrace, and photovoltaic glass cladding on the west wall of the atrium and panels on the roof which generate power.
The building employs short throw projectors to display interactive software on large walls treated with smart paint. This technology allows real time internet access, recording of free handwriting /drawing, and instant polling. Smart paint surfaces also double as white boards and flat screens will be deployed in smaller spaces to support distance learning and video conferencing in support of global research and leadership programs.
The facility has been planned and infrastructure roughed in to allow for future photovoltaic arrays to generate electricity and offset dependence on the grid. The large glass tower facing the field on the west elevation of the building is intended to gain a layer of vertical photovoltaic glass that will maintain views and transparency while generating power. Future plans also allow for the phasing in of an extensive roof-top photovoltaic array.
The bridge connection to the main entry on the second floor allows the creation of a drought resistant landscapes and carefully preserves the heritage oak tree on this confined site.
HED has been the visionary of Flintridge Prep’s Master Campus Plan. They imagined spaces that did not exist, and their work has transformed the campus.”
Peter Bachmann
Former Headmaster
Flintridge Preparatory School
Bringing together STEAM, global studies, and leadership in one state-of-the-art facility.
Bachmann Collaboration Building, Flintridge Prep School
La Canada Flintridge, CA
PROJECT DATA
Shaping leaders.