Date Posted: 08.28.2025
The Overlake School Student & Community Center grand opening ceremony will be held September 6th, in conjunction with the annual All-School welcome BBQ. This new welcome center and administration suite transforms learning and operations for students grades 5-12, faculty and staff.
The 8,000 square-foot building combines with the entry drive to create a new arrival sequence and welcoming “gateway” to the campus, improving pedestrian and vehicular circulation, and providing clear orientation to visitors upon their arrival. The front porch design creates a space for students, parents and staff to gather and connect, borne from the ideas and culture of the school.
At the center of the design, a fully accessible multipurpose space accommodates up to 250 people for community engagement, fostering soft skills or student life programming. Specially designed to extend learning beyond the classroom, the hyper-flexible room encourages collaboration, socialization and creative idea generation – equipping students to thrive in future team-based environments they will encounter in college and throughout their careers.
“The new Student & Community Center completes the vision for a welcoming new gateway for The Overlake School campus that has been a decade in the making,” shared Mithun partner in charge Brendan Connolly. “We are thrilled that this new facility will address so many different needs for Overlake and help support and propel this great community.”
The building is carefully nestled into a natural landscape including wetlands. Ample views to the surrounding natural Northwest landscape, maximized daylight and exposed timber interior finishes provide biophilic benefits to occupants. Sustainable features include a green roof system that addresses site stormwater needs; automatic lighting dimming; low-carbon, mass-timber structure; and a fully electric, high efficiency HVAC system.
The Student & Community Center is the third and final project of the $35 million Doors to Discovery capital campaign, which built the 30,000 square-foot Whitten Math & Sciences Center and tripled the school’s financial aid endowment.
“Last year our first ever middle school design challenge was made possible by the Idea Lab in Whitten. With the new space in the [Student & Community] center that can hold up to 250 students, we will be able to design, build and innovate in even more ways,” shared science faculty Brian Husted.
Mithun’s integrated team provided architecture, landscape architecture and interior design services. The project team includes Alliance Construction Management, owner’s representative; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, civil and structural engineer; Metrix Engineers, mechanical/plumbing engineer; Coffman Engineers, electrical engineer; and Abbott Construction, general contractor.
