EDUCATIONAL DESIGN
Students thrive in educational environments that are age appropriate, safe, welcoming, comfortable and inspiring. We design schools with these qualities in mind as a matter of standard practice. For learners and teachers, we create classrooms that are spacially and functionally flexible, illuminated with natural daylight, healthy and thermally comfortable, and acoustically appropriate to function.
For school owners, we deliver facilities that are highly energy-efficient, durable, responsive to culture and micro-climate, and reasonable to operate and maintain.
We believe educational design can contribute to the educator’s goal to nurture in students a lifelong love of learning and a sense of belonging to their community. Schools matter.
FEATURED EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS
HONOULIULI MIDDLE SCHOOL
Ewa Beach, Hawai‘i
Honouliuli Middle School sets a new benchmark for education in Hawaii. Designed by Ferraro Choi and Miller Hull, this campus blends cutting-edge 21st-century learning principles with vibrant outdoor spaces to create an inspiring environment for 1,150 students. Featuring flexible classrooms, collaborative areas, and a strong emphasis on STEM through Project Lead the Way, the school empowers every learning style. The campus includes modern academic buildings, athletic facilities, and a signature football field. As Hawaii’s first HI-CHPS Verified campus, Honouliuli champions sustainability, health, and high performance—delivering a future-ready learning experience.
Year Completed: 2024
Service Type: Architecture + Interiors
Size: 212,000 Sq. Ft.
-
One Front Door. The school’s main entry plaza welcomes all through a single-entry point to campus, strengthening the identity of place through a shared sense of belonging.
Optimized Occupant Comfort. The campus was planned to situate high-use spaces, suitable for natural ventilation, on the windward side of buildings – perpendicular to the trade winds – for optimal cross ventilation and comfort under the ASHRAE Standard 55.
Durability and Low Maintenance. The design employs a restrained palette of locally sourced, resilient materials. Precast concrete functions simultaneously as structure, exterior finish, and thermal mass, complemented by masonry, stucco, and aluminum hurricane shutters for long-term performance and minimal upkeep.
Community-Centered Campus. The campus is envisioned as a network of distinct buildings organized around a central outdoor commons. This shared hub fosters collaboration, resource exchange, and collective learning, embodying the principles of a 21st-century educational environment.
GYMNASIUM AT
ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL
Honolulu, Hawai‘i
President Theodore Roosevelt High School (RHS) was founded in 1930. Its existing gym has roots to the earliest years of the RHS campus as an openair compound with grass play courts for girls. Later in the 60s, it was enclosed to act as a formal gymnasium but has always been limited by its size and has not provided adequate space and support functions meeting Department of Education (DOE) standards.
Ferraro Choi was commissioned by the State of Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) in 2014 to develop a Masterplan for the campus and present options for a new gym location. Based on that Masterplan, a new gymnasium site was selected for the campus on the location of its existing gym as a centerpiece for the pride of the school and the community it serves.
The new gym includes seating for 1500 spectators, Varsity and Junior Varsity locker rooms, weight training, wrestling, cheerleading and instructional spaces. It also incorporates an underground parking lot to utilize the sloped site and add parking to the campus. The original entry drive into the campus will be reconfigured to provide a functional one-way circulation path and dedicated loading zones.
Anticipated Completion: 2026
Service Type: Architecture + Interiors
Size: 55,000 Sq. Ft.
| CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS |
EAST KAPOLEI
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (EKES)
Ewa Beach, Hawai‘i
East Kapolei Elementary is a purpose-built campus designed to nurture the unique needs of early learners—balancing structured instruction with the freedom to explore, discover, and grow. Rooted in student-centric design, the school fosters curiosity through dynamic learning environments and culturally inspired architecture.
Commissioned by the Hawai‘i State Department of Education, Ferraro Choi led the full design effort for this new elementary school serving the expanding East Kapolei and ʻEwa Beach communities. Situated on a 12-acre site within the Ho‘opili development, the 145,000-square-foot campus will welcome approximately 750 students from Pre-K through Grade 5.
Anticipated Completion: 2028
Service Type: Architecture + Interiors
Size: 145,000 Sq. Ft.
-
East Kapolei Elementary is a purpose-built campus designed to nurture the unique needs of early learners—balancing structured instruction with the freedom to explore, discover, and grow. Rooted in student-centric design, the school fosters curiosity through dynamic learning environments and culturally inspired architecture.
Commissioned by the Hawai‘i State Department of Education, Ferraro Choi led the full design effort for this new elementary school serving the expanding East Kapolei and ʻEwa Beach communities. Situated on a 12-acre site within the Ho‘opili development, the 145,000-square-foot campus will welcome approximately 750 students from Pre-K through Grade 5.
The school’s five buildings are arranged around a central park, featuring a performance lawn, playgrounds, native landscaping, a teaching garden, and outdoor learning spaces. Each building tells a story—developed through cultural research and expressed through thematic color palettes and custom graphics that reflect its location and purpose.
Guided by 21st-century learning principles, the campus offers flexible learning nodes, including a vibrant Learning Commons with a traditional reading room, tiered seating, cozy nooks, and dedicated spaces for media, fabrication, and collaborative instruction. Grade-level neighborhoods are anchored by their own learning commons, designed to support both large-group and breakout learning experiences.
Sustainability is central to the design. The school targets LEED v4 Silver certification, with potential for Gold through renewable energy integration. Passive design strategies and high-efficiency mechanical systems reduce energy consumption, while daylighting and dedicated HVAC systems enhance comfort in every instructional space. The campus also encourages walking and biking from the surrounding Ho‘opili neighborhood.
Ferraro Choi provided comprehensive services, including entitlement processing, programming, site planning, architectural design, and construction documentation—creating a learning environment where Hawai‘i’s keiki can thrive.
LEARNING CENTER AT KAMEHAMEHA
SCHOOLS KAPĀLAMA CAMPUS
Honolulu, Hawai‘i
The Kekelaokalani Building has been renovated into a state-of-the-art Learning Center by Ferraro Choi. The second floor features offices, conference rooms, and staff support spaces, while the third floor houses the heart of the Learning Center with flexible teaching spaces, collaboration areas, an innovation lab, a maker space, and a media center.
We designed the Learning Center with a strong connection to Native Hawaiian culture and identity, rooted in the Kapālama ahupua‘a. The design draws inspiration from the traditional Hawaiian technological innovation of the loko i‘a and the murmuring waters of Pu‘uhale as described in ‘Ōlelo No‘eau #1732.
The Learning Center features a gathering place within the lokoi‘a and is designed with flexibility in mind. Connections between the second and third floors are represented by the mākāhā (gates) that connect the ocean to the fishponds. The design includes organic grass mounds, playful reading nooks, movable storage, writable surfaces, and flexible furniture to support diverse learning environments for both teachers and students. The Learning Center is equipped with modern technology such as projection screens, TV monitors, 3D printers, laser cutters, and ample data and power to support new and innovative technology.
