The project: Dixon Middle School is a newly constructed 155,000-sf, two-story facility in Sneads Ferry, NC, part of Onslow County Public Schools. Designed to serve approximately 950 students and staffed by 65 teachers, the school is tailored for modern, collaborative education environments.

The goal: The project aimed to create a light-filled, flexible learning environment that supports a full range of student activities: from private one-on-one teacher conferences to small group collaboration, multi-class explorations, and student body assemblies. The goal was to foster an inclusive, contemporary middle-school setting that encourages engagement, creativity, and student interaction.

The design:

• Structural system: Load-bearing concrete masonry walls; bar joist and metal-deck roof framing; second-floor bar joist with concrete slab on metal deck; shallow spread footings and slab-on-grade foundations; double-height ceilings with clerestory lighting.
• Central gathering spaces: A Learning Commons and Gathering Hall framed in structural steel and clad in curtain-wall and metal panel systems provide shared space and visual openness.
• Gymnasium: Features bowstring trusses supporting a standing-seam barrel roof.
• Interior spatial strategy: Light-filled classrooms arranged along a north-south axis with collaboration nodes and circulation corridors extending into a garden-like courtyard and shared library zones.

The outcome: The new Dixon Middle School opened for the start of the 2017 school year, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on August 15, 2017. The project was completed $3 million under budget, with a total construction cost of approximately $28.5 million.