Case Study Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School

Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School, Guiding Students with Color

Finding one’s way inside a school can be confusing at times. However, it can be outright daunting and intimidating for a five-year-old. Quincy Public School District in Quincy, Illinois passed a referendum in 2014 to begin the process of simplifying their educational experience. Rather than each student attending four schools from the time they entered kindergarten until they graduated, students would instead attend three schools.

As a result, the school district needed to expand elementary schools to include kindergarten through grade 5. To help with this change, the district called upon local firm Klingner & Associates to design the new Lincoln-Douglas Elementary School, the first of five new elementary schools in the district.

The 68,000-square-foot building utilizes clear, linear wayfinding to effectively navigate the school, and the wayfinding was established through the use of bright colors and shapes assigned to each grade. Klingner brilliantly used Standard Excelon Imperial Texture Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT) and incorporated shapes into the linear wayfinding, adding an element of practicality for those that are color blind.

This project was selected as the 2018 See the Possibilities™ Design Contest winner, which challenged participants to push the limits of design with VCT.