The culture that exists at Ardmore Elementary School clearly places high value on strong collaboration within each grade level and a strong sense of community throughout the school. The design carefully responds to these values by creating clusters of classrooms per grade level that open onto a shared work area. Each cluster and shared space is separate from the main hallway to reduce disruption in the clusters while maximizing the collaboration that can occur in a cluster. The library is a two-story space in the middle of the school with glass walls and large openings to the hallway – recreating a transparent center of the school to allow for connectedness and to support a strong sense of community.