LEO A DALY transforms former school buildings into mini-campus for teacher training

Winona, Minn. — Construction is underway on Education Village, a state-of-the-art mini-campus for teacher education at Winona State University in Winona, Minn. The $25.2 million project repurposes three former school buildings, creating a new section of campus and home of the College of Education.

Designed by LEO A DALY, Education Village carves a cohesive identity out of three school buildings from different eras, retrofitting them with cutting-edge learning spaces while retaining their historic integrity. The 100,000-square-foot project will allow future teachers to train in the internationally recognized Winona Model, which focuses on early clinical experiences in real-world situations.

The design creates a spectrum of learning environments that embody the history of American education, ranging from fully historic classrooms with blackboards, to the most advanced, technology-enabled active-learning classrooms, STEM labs, maker spaces, and special-education classrooms.

“Education Village is a place for birth-to-100 learning, where history, technology, and real-world experience come together to develop innovative teachers,” said Joe Bower, senior architect in LEO A DALY’s Minneapolis office. “By placing a diversity of learning environments into a range of different building contexts, the design helps prepare future teachers for anything they will encounter in professional life.”

“Education Village is a leap forward for teacher education in the state of Minnesota. It will empower pedagogy change agents, and create a corps of new teachers who will help school districts innovate and face the educational needs of tomorrow,” said Dr. Tarrell Portman, Dean of the College of Education.

Wabasha Hall, the new main hub of Education Village, will function as a learning lab and gathering place, with a large atrium addition, as well as experimental classrooms, a child-care center, counselor-education facilities, and breakout spaces for group work. Wabasha Rec, a former gym, will house physical-education and adaptive-sports teaching programs. Cathedral School, a historic schoolhouse built in 1929, will preserve low-tech classrooms relevant to the current spectrum of American schools, and house post-graduate teacher-development functions, administrative offices, and the dean’s suite.

Construction by general contractor Kraus-Anderson is expected to complete in time for the Fall 2019 school semester.