Inwood, IA (2025)
The West Lyon Community School, located along Highway 182 in northwest Iowa, serves four small rural towns: Larchwood, Inwood, Lester, and Alvord. We started with a master plan for the District, which established a pretty substantial wish list for this large addition and renovation project.
A new kitchen and cafeteria topped the wish list for the Wildcats, followed by a new two-story weight/wrestling room, new locker rooms, the District’s first-ever dedicated auditorium, new classrooms, and a new bus barn and bus loop.
We encouraged the District to centralize their new kitchen and cafeteria, which meant demolishing a large midsection of the school. To bring natural light into the space, we replaced four sections of the roof with skylights, which required the contractor to crane four precast double-tee members out of the middle of the school. A sight to see.
On the north end of the school, a new weight room, two-story auditorium, new locker rooms, two classrooms, and a choir room were added. To tie together the athletic and performing arts programming of this addition, we designed a pattern into the pre-cast exterior that follows the sheet music of the school fight song. Hopefully a source of pride for the Pride.
