Masonry Magazine March 1974 Page. 25
DeMun Elementary School in Clayton, Mo., recipient of the Award of Merit in the 1973 Architectural Excellence in Masonry competition sponsored by the St. Louis Masonry Development Trust. Hoffman/Saur & Associates, Inc. was the designer with Robert R. Wright, Inc., general contractor; Heinicke & Theiss, structural engineer, and E. C. Landers Brick Work, Inc. (MCAA), mason contractor.
DeMun Elementary School
St. Louis, Missouri
The intricately molded and forcefully executed brick exterior of the DeMun School, winner of the Award of Merit, provides a direct expression of the structure's interior educational functions.
The 49,600 square-foot, two-level elementary school facility was designed to accommodate 450 students within a pleasant and educationally stimulating environment. A brick exterior was chosen to blend with the dominant material of the surrounding neighborhood and because brick would permit the precision and close tolerance required for the 45 and 90 degree corners.
The roof is of long-span steel construction, and the school's first floor walls are of reinforced concrete with brick and block exterior wall infill. The second level consists of masonry bearing walls, bearing on the underlying concrete structure. The two levels are connected by cylindrical stair towers with exposed brick interior as well as exterior walls.
All of the facility's flexible academic areas are located on the upper level with each instructional area having access to a stairway connecting to both the exterior and the lower level area. The upper level space sace is designed for maximum flexibility with a rotated ceiling grid at 45 degrees permitting angular and rectangular shapes.
All community-use spaces are located on the lower level, which can be secured from the rest of the school. The lower level also houses a specialized learning station, cafeteria, gymnasium and administrative offices.
The MDT award is not the first Hoffmann/Saur has received for its design of DeMun. Last March, the school received an honor award in the AIA-PC Tri-Annual Architectural Achievement Awards competition.
Louis R. Saur (left), principal in Hoffmann/Saur & Associates, Inc., and Pete Olhausen, vice president, are pictured with Bill Pautler, executive director of the Masonry Development Trust following presentation to the firm of the Award of Merit in the 1973 Architectural Excellence in Masonry contest.
masonry
March, 1974
25