This 1964 cover features several elementary schools in the form of a novel in Greeley, Colorado. The distinctive circular and hexagonal designs of the buildings offered flexibility in the use of space.
Designed by architect John Shaver of Salina, Kan.-based Shaver & Co., the schools feature planning concepts recommended by Colorado State College’s Educational Planning Service.
One school, East Memorial, consisted primarily of three hexagons with 50-foot sides within a large hexagon. Each hexagon could be divided into six classrooms by folding partitions. Windows allowed a teacher at the center to monitor classroom activities. Steel posts in the middle of each hexagon supported suspended roofs.
Sherwood Elementary consisted of four adjacent circles 68 feet in diameter, topped with thin-layer concrete domes. The circles were divided into six classrooms, with a teacher’s office along the circumference. These geometric shapes allowed Shaver to place mechanical equipment and boiler rooms in central attics, avoiding the need for utility lines.
Expensive foundation work was also eliminated. Construction costs were $16.02 per square foot, which compares favorably to Greeley’s most recent mainstream elementary school, which cost $16.14 per square foot.
