Open Space

Girard Academic Music Program

Girard Academic Music Program is a public magnet middle and high school located in South Philadelphia, with a curriculum focused on music and the performing arts. The school wanted to improve its open spaces to be more attractive and inviting and to better address the needs of its diverse students and rigorous curriculum. The Collaborative’s proposed design, created with the school community, includes an outdoor classroom and quiet spaces for study, as well as active recreation spaces, featuring movable furniture, a life-size chess board, wall ball and four-square, bicycle parking, and a rain garden. All design features are woven together through a painted representation of the sheet music for “Hallelujah” which has a special meaning of unity within the school community.