Naramake Elementary School

DESCRIPTION
Naramake Elementary School was constructed in 1961 with additions in 2014, but the existing school did not have a dedicated cafeteria space. The current “Auditorium/Gym/Cafeteria” model did not lend itself well to providing efficient serving, eating, and congregating conditions for the students, and it impeded building egress due to the servery queuing lines that extend into the corridor.

In 2019, Antinozzi Associates was awarded the conceptual design study and cost estimate of the Naramake Elementary School Cafeteria and Kitchen Improvement Project. The Norwalk Public Schools desired to separate the cafeteria from the gymnasium and auditorium by partitioning an under-utilized Media Center and re-purposing it as a new cafeteria. The design included a new addition housing a full service kitchen. Multiple conceptual design options were provided with cost estimates by our firm.

Antinozzi Associates was then awarded the contract for the next stage of this project which turned our conceptual design into built form. The plan included re-purposing a portion of the existing Media Center and creating an addition to provide cafeteria space separate from the Gymnasium, while reserving dedicated space in the Media Center for a Learning Commons.