Norwalk, CT – The new 65,000sf Cranbury Elementary School in Norwalk welcomed its first class of students at the start of the 2023-24 school year. It is the third in a series of major school projects that the City of Norwalk has undertaken to address its broader educational facilities masterplan.
The cafeteria brings nature in with cedar decking, stone, and views of the entrance plaza and wooded landscape.
Located within Cranbury Park, the exterior walls of the school’s primary gathering spaces use full-height glazing to dissolve the separation from the outdoors. The school’s color palette and architectural elements, including fieldstone accent walls, tile patterns evocative of fallen leaves on a forest floor, and exposed cedar roof decking, are designed to elicit connections to the surrounding natural environment and support the school’s earth sciences themed curriculum.
A tensile shade structure shelters the outdoor classroom behind the school.
The K-8 School was built adjacent to, and now replaces, the former 1959 school building. The school community was able to occupy the old building until the new one was ready, allowing for continuity of educational activities. The former school has since been removed and once plantings are installed this spring, the project will be complete. The project is on target to come in on time and well under budget. Project team members included Antinozzi Associates, Architecture + Interiors, architect; Newfield Construction, Inc., construction manager; and Construction Solutions Group (CSG), program manager, Norwalk School & Municipal Building Construction.
