EDfacility Tours

EDspaces explores a variety of learning environments from Pre-K through Higher Education. Enhance your EDspaces experience through expeditionary learning in and around Charlotte, touring education institutions with different innovations transforming the places where students learn.
All tours include an educational component in a variety of learning environments, and each qualifies for multiple AIA LU/HSW and IDCEC CEU/HSW credits.
Tours have a limited number of participants to maximize your experience. Select your tour(s) as an add-on during registration. The price of each is listed below each description

Please note: One tour is included in the Architect/Designer full conference registration; all others must purchase a ticket. Architects/Designers may purchase a ticket to participate in a second tour at a different time from the first tour choice.

Tour Partner

K-12 EDfacility Tour (A)

Monday, November 6, 12:00 PM-5:00 PM (Credit: 3 AIA LU/HSW, 3 IDCEC CEU/HSW)

The price for this tour is $150; Preregistration is required.

Cherry Park Elementary School of Language Immersion

Architect: Moseley Architects

Merging Rock Hill Schools’ multiple language immersion programs at a centralized location, Cherry Park Elementary School of Language Immersion was constructed as a K-3 addition alongside the existing Sullivan Middle School, which itself was partially renovated to house grades four and five. Although elementary and middle school students remain physically separated, the joint campus allows for shared parking, vehicle circulation, and a central kitchen. Because students split their days between two languages, pairs of adjoining classrooms with a common door allow teachers to move easily between spaces when it is time to transition. Each classroom wing also features a Casa Maison, an open, collaborative space for small group learning or joint class instruction. The multilevel design takes advantage of the existing site and provides a feeling of security for the K-1 playground, located between the building wing and upper-level parking. The school is the district’s first to receive LEED certification.

Catawba Ridge High School

Architect: Jumper Carter Sease

Located on a heavily wooded site near the Catawba River, the design of Catawba Ridge High School is rooted in the relationship to the outdoors and access to its natural setting. Designed by Jumper Carter Sease Architects, this new campus was completed in 2018. Designed for 2,000 students, the school’s main academic spaces are organized around a central, stepped, outdoor courtyard which serves as an extension of the indoor learning environment and provides a dynamic outdoor setting for learning. Taking advantage of the natural terrain, the building steps with the grade and utilizes three-story classrooms to minimize the physical built footprint. Sustainability was also a key driver in the school’s design, evident first in the passive solar strategies implemented in the overall layout of the school. Elongated on an east-to-west axis, the classroom wings take advantage of optimal solar orientation to provide adequate natural daylight into the interior spaces. Through the careful selection of materials, special emphasis was given to maximizing indoor air quality, reducing VOCs, as well as utilizing recycled materials.

Covenant Day High School

Architect: Little

This 57,100-sf high school represents the implementation of the 21st Century Immersive Learningscape, designed for collaborative and project-based learning. This dynamic learning environment inspire students to become creative an inquisitive learners in a collaborative learning environment where learning happens everywhere. With a diverse array of space types and sizes, the school supports 21st Century learning, social and emotional learning, and human wellness. A variety of spaces allow for individual learning (Think spaces), team/project-based learning (Create spaces), and places for presentation, project introductions or distance learning (Impart spaces). STEM-focused, hands-on classrooms were created for exploration of the sciences, while makerspaces allow for creative invention, focused on prototyping and innovation (Discover spaces). To help promote social and emotional learning, centrally located space was intentionally dedicated for the student services. The environment also embraces wellness through biophilic design. The interior features transparent walls, showcasing the learning activities, but also providing views to the outdoors, allowing natural light to flood the interior.

Uptown Charlotte Walking Tour (B)

Monday, November 6, 4:00 PM-5:30 PM (Credit: 1 AIA LU/HSW, 1 IDCEC CEU/HSW)

The price for this tour is $25; Preregistration is required.

Tentative Tour Stops
  • Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
  • Mint Museum Uptown
  • Bechler Museum
  • Bank of America HQ Lobby Painting / Founders Hall
  • ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center
  • UNC- Charlotte Center City Building
  • Optional Gathering at Ri Ra

Tour Guides courtesy of DLR Group/Charlotte

K-12 EDfacility Tour (C)

Thursday, November 9, 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM  (Credit: 3 AIA LU/HSW, 3 IDCEC CEU/HSW)

The price for this tour is $150; Preregistration is required.

Charlotte Christian Middle/Upper School

Architect: LS3P

Charlotte Christian Middle School had outgrown their existing space and set out to reimagine the traditional middle school education model. The solution was an addition, that feels more like it was always meant to be the heart of the campus. This 23,000 SF, two story building completed in the Summer of 2022 replaced an existing classroom facility and includes interactive learning environments, dedicated professional development spaces, and offices. Our favorite part of this new space is the Innovation Suite that features a dedicated robotics room, a STEM fabrication lab, and an e-sports lab – which is complemented by flexible classrooms to promote student collaboration. Work on the Charlotte Christian Upper School replacement followed with a 31,000 SF, two story addition tying into an existing locker commons. This area has been updated to provide for a more collaborative, engaging space for students and faculty. The new building includes sciences labs, and a Broadcast Studio/Classroom suite. A solar canopy is a key exterior feature which provides shade for a senior’s lounge and power generation on campus. An informative dashboard provides real time energy data to help support the STEM based curriculum on campus.

Corvian Community High School

Architect: KSQ/ Perkins Eastman

What started as a low-tuition private school with 15 students has transformed into a state-of-the-art campus that is reimagining how students in Charlotte grow and learn. Corvian Community School is building for the next generation by providing a space that develops the whole child and addresses the cognitive, emotional, social and physical needs of each student. At 70,000 SF, the high school features advanced learning spaces including 16 classrooms and innovation labs with technology conducive for robotics and 3-D printing. It also boasts amenities that allow students to develop and explore their passions, including a yoga and dance studio, fitness room, black-box theater, art and music rooms, and regulation-size gym with bleacher seating and capacity for 1,000. Since the high school was completed, the campus has grown to include a turf athletic field with track and grandstands and field house. A new 45,000 SF elementary school is currently under construction.

Charlotte Lab School (Previously Invest Collegiate)

Architect: Little

Charlotte Lab School, a K-12 Charter school, has just moved into the Immersive Learningscape building previously occupied by Invest Collegiate Charter School. The building is designed to optimize a Project-based learning approach to teaching and learning. The 3-story, 80,000 sf LEED Silver building is designed to accommodate agency, flexibility, and adaptability. It is also designed based on Wellness and Neuroscience best practices. The 5 typologies of learning space (Think, Create, Discover, Impart, and Exchange) are carefully choreographed to allow teaching and learning choices, movement, co-teaching, and mentorship in a transdisciplinary curriculum. The school also takes advantage of its proximity to Uptown Charlotte to create opportunities for students to think and solve urban challenges.

Higher Ed EDfacility Tour (D)

Thursday, November 9, 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM  (Credit: 3 AIA LU/HSW, 3 IDCEC CEU/HSW)

The price for this tour is $150; Preregistration is required.

UNC Charlotte University Recreation Center (U Rec)

Architect: Jenkins•Peer Architects (J•PA)

UNC Charlotte’s new Recreation Center is designed to meet the University’s immediate needs while providing the flexibility to adapt and expand components as desired in the future. In uniting its recreational offerings/programming in one facility, UNC Charlotte can offer a number of exciting spaces and programmatic opportunities for its students and staff. The five-story, 148,000-square-foot center includes an outdoor pool building, and features indoor and outdoor pools, multi-purpose courts, multipurpose studios for group fitness, sports clubs, and other activities, cycling studio, demonstration kitchen, fitness balconies, outdoor sand volleyball and basketball courts, an elevated running/walking track, space for cardiovascular and strength training, and more. There is 29,000-sf of dedicated space for open fitness related to strength and cardio training that will triple the current fitness space at UNC Charlotte and it will be spread out over four floors to allow students to work out in spaces where they will be most comfortable.

© Susan Holt Photography

UNC Charlotte New Science Building

Architect: Clark Nexsen/Payette

UNC Charlotte’s New Science Building is helping the university meet growing demand and enrollment in STEM-related fields. Clark Nexsen and Payette are architectural partners on this interdisciplinary research and education facility that establishes a modern, collaborative environment for scientific exploration. Home to Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, the building’s program emphasizes the undergraduate learning experience while meeting increased demand for graduate research space. It features instructional and teaching labs for chemistry, physics, and biology as well as a balance of formal and informal spaces for students to engage with each other and faculty. The expansion of undergraduate research opportunities is also being prioritized, focusing on integrating interdisciplinary research space to support the science program’s overall mission. A 100-student classroom accommodates larger groups and complements additional classroom space, labs, and student study and support areas. While the new science building is the central focus, this project is distinguished by the inclusion of a new regional utility plant, data center, and café. Each of these components offers a benefit to the campus and student body, with the café promoting a dual social and academic atmosphere.

Central Piedmont Community College Parr Center

Architect: Morris-Berg Architects/Moody-Nolan

Central Piedmont Community College sets their vision to be a champion of students, a catalyst for opportunity, and an exceptional provider of learning experiences that transforms lives and strengthens our community. The Parr Center exemplifies this vision as a progressive, student-focused facility housing Student Success Services, Library, Student Union, Performing Arts Theater, and Art Gallery on their Central Campus in Charlotte, NC. The architect team designed the facility to fit within the social and educational heart of the campus Quad, providing a fresh image for the College while creating dynamic, social spaces for students. The signature building, spread over 172,000 sf, encourages today’s students to explore and cultivate their passions with spaces that encourage both collaboration and solitude. This sense of discovery is not lost on the exterior, where green rooftops and terraces have provided connection to the established campus and the Charlotte skyline.

Northeastern School of Nursing

Architect: Little

“What do you mean I don’t have my own office?” The Northeastern University Charlotte Campus project is a story of creating flexible environments, navigating space use changes, and providing mixing spaces for both students and faculty to share. Breaking the mold of university facility design, this project showcases flexible environments for mixed uses, that are prepared for future change. It exemplifies experiential learning through an academic environment that doesn’t look or feel like one. Attendees will see an example of a higher education facility embedding itself within a business and entertainment district, and occupying Class-A office space.”