Kekelaokalani Building

Client: Kamehameha Schools

Architect: Ferraro Choi

Completion Year: 2021

Construction Cost: $5.9 million

The renovation of the Kekelaokalani Building at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus included the addition of a new media library center, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) classrooms, and staff offices with AV-equipped conference rooms. A section of the third floor suspended concrete slab was removed to accommodate a new steel and glass staircase, and a “wave” of bamboo was lashed and suspended from the third-floor ceiling down to the second floor.

The Kekelaokalani Building connects the modern innovation of the educational spaces to the ancient innovation of the fishpond. The space provides the students with a connection to the past through its unique construction, building materials, and patterns. The media library center, which represents the knowledge of the past, anchors the mauka end of the third floor, allowing students to meet in the “gathering space,” embracing the wisdom of their ancestors. The STEM classrooms designed in the makai section of the building inspire students to imagine and create their vision.