by Kevin Cody
Our Lady of Guadalupe signaled its goal of offering elite level education to its 270 students by unveiling a $4 million, 7,000 sq. fine arts, and STEM building on Saturday, the 60th anniversary of the Hermosa Beach Catholic elementary. The new building also includes conference, administration, and faculty rooms.
Architect Robert Kerr described his design as “something of the moment, a time capsule.”
Its signature feature is a long, cantilevered roof with an opening to the sky, shaped like a floating, Calder mobile. The roof provides protection for a plaza at the entrance to the building.
The design is spare, in the style of contemporary Hermosa Strand homes, with sharp angles, big windows and long passageways overlooking the schoolyard. The window trim is black. Its pale gray walls change color with the passing sunlight.
The style is a challenging contrast to the cheery, conventional architecture of the Hermosa School District’s recently completed Hermosa Vista School in North Hermosa, and the soon to be completed Hermosa View school, just a few blocks away.
At the unveiling of the newly completed building, Our Lady of Guadalupe Pastor Paul Gawlowski thanked the project’s donors, volunteers, and neighbors. He expressed a special thankyou to principal April Beuder, whom he presented with a bouquet of flowers and a DVD of Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones documentary “Shine a light.”
Beuder, after acknowledging she is a diehard Stones fan, said of the new building, “This is just the beginning.” ER
