AGBU Innovation Studios is a multidisciplinary, project-based learning space for middle and high school students in Los Angeles. Located on the second floor of a midcentury building, AGBU’s programming requires four equally sized and shaped studios that can function independently to serve students, as well as have the option to create one large space for community events or exhibitions. DOMM, a local and young architecture practice founded by Paul Matevosyan and Raffy Mardirossian, met the brief by transforming the space from two classrooms divided by single hallway into four discrete spaces that can cohere into one large, neon-hued and elevated interior for public school students.

The new spatial logic stems from the previously existing hallway, a 6-foot-wide pathway that contributed substantially to the structural integrity of the building. Working with the conditions of the site, the architects preserved the hallway while creating 3-foot-wide openings that alternate with walls to maintain structural integrity. They then repeated and rotated this configuration 90 degrees, creating a crucifix in plan that craftily designates four studio spaces.

But in order for the space to operate as one when needed, DOMM eschews doors for yellow, UV-blocking, strip welding curtains. They are mounted onto sliding, operable tracks which line the interior of the cruciform. The curtain, which the architects selected for the relationship to microprocessor “clean rooms,” easily allows the 4,200-square-foot space to act as one unfolding interior—while adding bright color to break up the otherwise clean, white rooms.

The curtains also lend themselves to the spatial choreography of the space. When pulled over the openings, the yellow blocking emphasizes the rhythmic punctations of the cruciform core. When left opened, they create a flowing, intriguing pathway from one studio to another. At the center of the space, the openings of the hallways align, creating a heightened expansiveness. Lit under UV-blocking fluorescent lights, the effect feels otherworldly.

Circling the space, the perimeter walls feature a slatwall system so student work can be mounted and displayed. The architects considered the care and experience of the students in these design elements, as the unique, sleek interior attests.

“The resulting architecture is simultaneously familiar yet foreign. While the cruciform sits within the square boundaries of the allocated space, almost akin to an installation or sculpture, its architectural and conceptual language is derived from a deep attention to and reading of the existing conventional classroom typology,” said the firm. It’s a bold, bright, and encouraging offering for students.