School will expand by 33,184 feet to accommodate hundreds of new students.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved the plans to expand and renovate Reston's Terraset Elementary School.
The plans include building additions of 33,184 square feet. There will be a an administration addition, art/music addition, two classroom additions and a multi-purpose addition.
The upper parking area will be redesigned to improve traffic flow and to provide a kiss-and-ride drop-off area. The two existing pedestrian bridges will be demolished, and a new centrally located bridge will be constructed to connect the school with the kiss-and-ride area.
Terraset was built in 1977. The additional space will increase the capacity of Terraset from 600 students (487 are enrolled for 2012-13) to nearly 900.
Former principal Ellen Cury said last school year that the expansion was being designed to accommodate a potential influx of population brought to Reston by the opening of Metro's Silver Line in late 2013. Residents can likely expect south Reston elementary school boundaries to be redrawn after the renovation is completed.
Click here to see more details about the plans, click here.
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Laura Ramon
7:04 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Wait! Where's all the hate?! Why aren't we slamming this development? Screaming how our Supervisor doesn't have Reston's best interest at the forefront?
John Farrell
7:58 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Read the earlier threads on this subject.
Chipperson
7:13 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Good point!
In all seriousness this redevelopment saddens me because i think terrasset to be a historic structure - however 30 some years later it serves no purpose so maybe it's ok to significantly change it.
Reston Skyscrapers Rule!
10:24 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
It should be replaced with a golf course...
Arielle Masters
10:53 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
I was a student there in its first years. Didn't realize the inside had been gutted that much in previous renovations! Pies are quite gone :-<
Outside update looks like it'll be very handy, not that my kids go there. I agree - it used to be architecturally significant as a structure. Guess it isn't now?
Java Master
3:32 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
When it was first built, Terraset was hailed as a precursor for both energy-efficient school design, and educational space-planning, even appearing in architectural magazines, etc. Guess what? That particular future never happened, and the design was not widely copied as some anticipated. So it turned out not be as "significant" as originally believed, but more an oddity. The new design completes the evolution of the school and its surroundings into a much more useful and practical facility than the original design could ever hope to be.