About the Project
When the Pasadena Independent School District was designing a new structure to replace the original Gardens Elementary School, built in 1944, a central focus was placed on celebrating the strong school pride shared by its 700 students and 85 faculty members. Though the modern facility would look very different from the previous one, respect for the school’s heritage and enthusiasm for learning would always remain at Gardens Elementary. With this in mind, the design team decided to cover the school’s entrance wall with an enormous mural of its mascot.
Design Goals
Replacing the oldest school in the district was exciting from the start. The new 100,000 square foot Gardens Elementary was built to be energy efficient, with up-to-date technology for all pre-K through to fourth grade students. Having used Acrovyn by Design in a previous school project, the school district knew that it could utilize this product to brand the building with the colorful logo on a 12-foot wide by 10-foot tall wall. District administrators also knew that Acrovyn by Design’s highly durable surface would protect the logo from future abuse.
Results
On Gardens Elementary School’s opening day in the winter of 2014, the students enthusiastically ran to touch the Garden Gator on the entrance wall as they arrived at their brand new school. Embedded behind impact-resistant, PVC-free rigid material, the high-resolution art has its own clear, protective shield that safeguards it against damage and makes cleaning easy.
“The mural was the final touch to our new school and Acrovyn by Design allowed us to get the kids excited about the fresh start,” said Israel Grinberg, Pasadena Independent School District Construction Manager. “After using Acrovyn by Design in our Dr. Kirk Lewis Career & Technical High School, we knew that we had an opportunity to do something special and long-lasting at our elementary school. You just can’t get that kind of quality and durability with a hand-painted mural.”
