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The new Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene is designed to change over time. That will allow it to keep pace with new trends in education, said Alyssa Leeviraphan of Mahlum Architects, one of the project’s designers.

“The flexibility 鈥� that’s a big theme,” she said. “If you’ve got a flexible space, you can adapt to what’s coming up.”

Flexibility is evident throughout plans being developed by Mahlum Architects’ Portland office and Eugene-based Robertson | Sherwood | Architects for a $41.5 million bond-funded project to replace the aging middle school in South Eugene.

Some classrooms will be able to cater to a variety of uses, and be adjacent to meeting rooms where students can study in smaller groups or work individually. Most furniture, including shelving and white boards, will be on wheels.

Based on feedback from teachers, district staffers and parents, designers were tasked with creating a layout that allows students to loop through the school and learn about different academic or career paths.

The 97,000-square-foot school building will wrap around a central courtyard with multiple access points; students there will be able to socialize or participate in outdoor science lessons and art projects.

Glass will be a prominent material throughout and allow students to see from the hallway activity in spaces like the “maker’s lab” 鈥� a combined shop, home economics and art classroom, Mahlum associate Rene Berndt said.

“There are not a lot of boring, empty corridors, but there are engaging spaces,” he said. “The idea is to pique (students’) interest and discover what they like.”

The new school on East 24th Avenue will be built west of the existing 105,000-square-foot school on a site with soccer fields and tennis courts close to Amazon Creek and an adjacent wetland. Eugene School District officials are anticipating the possibility of donating a six-acre parcel that holds the current Roosevelt Middle School for a new YMCA, district facilities director Jon Lauch said.

“We look forward to the day when we have a brand new middle school and a brand new YMCA right next to each other,” he said.

The replacement of Roosevelt Middle School will be paid for via a $170 million bond that voters passed in May 2013. Other projects include replacements of Howard and River Road/El Camino del R铆o elementary schools and a renovation/expansion of the Arts & Technology Academy middle school.

A 2002 long-range district facilities plan first identified Roosevelt Middle School, built in 1950, in need of replacement, Lauch said. According to a master plan for the school completed by Eugene-based PIVOT Architecture in 2004, it would be cheaper to tear down the school and rebuild it than renovate it.

“It doesn’t meet any of our educational specifications for what we want in a school,” Lauch said.

The new school will be vastly more efficient and meet the district’s increased security requirements, he said.

“Roosevelt is built in a way that has numerous exterior entrances,” he said. “Trying to supervise who is coming and going from the school is very difficult 鈥� The way we design schools now is we try to limit the front entries.”

Security has been a major consideration in the design process, Berndt said. It’s one reason for the theme of transparency throughout the building.

“There is no hidden space,” Berndt said. “If there is someone that shouldn’t be in the space, he will be seen.”

The design team was also tasked by the district to achieve at least a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver rating for the project, Leeviraphan said. Sustainable features could include rainwater harvesting and visible solar panels tied into educational programs.

Feedback from teachers and parents was crucial in the design process, Berndt said. Input from community meetings helped Mahlum designers develop plans to place a classroom for choir and one for drama next to the cafeteria with a movable partition in between. The partition can remain in place for more intimate performances in the drama classroom or removed to allow people sitting in the cafeteria to become the audience.

“We are becoming aware that you can’t design a school from the top down,” Berndt said. “You have to talk to the people.”

Eugene School District bond-funded projects:

Roosevelt Middle School replacement

Location: 680 E. 24th Ave., Eugene

Approximate cost: $41.5 million

Construction start date: spring 2015

Anticipated completion date: fall 2016

Architects: Mahlum Architects, Robertson | Sherwood | Architects

Howard Elementary School replacement

Location: 700 Howard Ave., Eugene

Approximate cost: $32 million

Construction start date: fall 2014

Anticipated completion date: fall 2015

Architects: PIVOT Architecture, DOWA-IBI Group

River Road/El Camino del R铆o Elementary School replacement

Location: 120 W. Hilliard Lane, Eugene

Approximate cost: $24 million

Construction start date: spring 2015

Anticipated completion date: fall 2016

Architects: PIVOT Architecture, DOWA-IBI Group

Arts & Technology Academy renovation and expansion

Location: 1650 W. 22nd Ave., Eugene

Approximate cost: $35 million

Construction start date: 2015

Anticipated completion date: 2017

Architects: Rowell Brokaw Architects, Opsis Architecture