SHCA completes 88,000 s/f project for PS/IS 295 in Queens Village

PS/IS 295, a new Pre-K through 8th grade school in Queens Village, designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA), has been completed. The project, undertaken on behalf of the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA), includes a 630 seat, 88,000 s/f facility. To foster a strong connection between the school and the community, major assembly spaces such as the gymnasium, cafeteria and a 300 seat auditorium are designed to be available for community use. SHCA's primary design challenge for the school stemmed from the need to compose a program of largely standardized rectilinear spaces on a site of highly irregular geometry on a lot 15% smaller than that proposed in the initial feasibility study.  In addition, the building design needed to reflect both the busy commercial strip of Jamaica Ave. and the adjoining quiet residential neighborhood, which is a few blocks from the Nassau County border.   "The design solution organizes the program into a long four-story volume on Jamaica Ave.," said Joseph Aliotta, AIA, SHCA's principal in charge of the project.  "The two major public spaces - auditorium and gymnasium - slide out from under this main volume to engage the lower scale of the surrounding residential neighborhood and the south-facing playground."