Hawthorne Elementary School, Westerville City Schools

The Hawthorne Elementary School renovation offered Triad the opportunity to deliver a full-service architecture and interior design solution that brought imagination to life. With the building untouched since the early 2000s, the district challenged us to create a bold, student-centered transformation — and our team delivered.

Originally built in the 1950s, the school’s modernist architecture provided the perfect backdrop for a space station-themed environment inspired by student input. Through our integrated interior design approach, we introduced bright, cool colors to represent planets and galaxies, which also serve as intuitive wayfinding tools for young learners.

Drawing on the building’s mid-century roots, the design incorporates retro-futurist elements throughout — from globe lights that resemble orbiting planets to long overhead arches that echo shooting stars. A standout feature in the renovated cafeteria showcases the solar system suspended from the ceiling, inviting curiosity and wonder.

Triad remained involved throughout construction administration, ensuring that every detail of the design was brought to life with care and accuracy. The result is a dynamic, inspiring learning environment grounded in educational engagement and creative expression.

To maintain functionality for students and faculty in the building, the renovation was broken into the 3 phases which will occur over summer and winter breaks.

Because many existing features of the original architecture worked well with our space themed design, we were able to create a cost-effective contemporary learning space with material updates including finishes, casework, technology and furnishings.

A major feature of the renovated school is the PBLAs (Project Based Learning Areas.) Each area of the building contains a central PBLA to encourage breakout collaborative learning for groups of students. These spaces allow teachers to get creative and utilize a variety of teaching styles.