Magellan International School

A vacant office complex turned vibrant learning environment.

Magellan International School is a K-12 Spanish immersion school in Northwest Austin. As the nation’s only secular, independent institution to offer the full International Baccalaureate program in a bilingual setting, its mission is to prepare the next generation of innovative, globally minded and culturally curious students. After years of leasing space in a former strip mall, Magellan hired LPA to adapt a 14-acre commercial office property into a nexus for exploratory learning.

Instead of building new, LPA reworked two existing buildings into a unified campus, one that enriches the student experience through centralized collaboration spaces, exterior-facing classrooms and distinct outdoor learning and play areas. Commercial real estate provides viable opportunities for schools because its infrastructure can often be repurposed. However, transforming workplace floor plans into those meant to spark imagination requires thoughtful planning.

Completed on a limited budget and a nine-week design timeline, the team maintained the core infrastructure, stairs and MEP systems while making mechanical upgrades to meet indoor air-quality requirements for the building's conversion from office to educational use. Exterior louvers were added to the building shells with minimal disruption to the structural systems. Project-wide, lighting was updated for code compliance with energy-efficient LEDs. Outside, 30,000 square feet of parking was repurposed into playgrounds, a multipurpose field, hard courts, terraced seating, outdoor classrooms and an amphitheater. As part of these improvements, LPA landscape architects and civil engineers accommodated many mature trees and a 37-foot grade change across the site, working with the parking lot’s pad elevations and preserving retaining walls.

To meet administrative and grade-specific needs, the primary and secondary schools are split by building. There are accessible collaboration and maker spaces in each, large enough for multiple groups to convene, while all students share a multipurpose room and a 2,500-square-foot bilingual library. Classrooms, placed on the plan’s perimeter where office workstations once stood, take advantage of natural light.

As part of the adaptive reuse effort, many of the interior finishes were salvaged, including carpet and acoustic tiles. Vertical circulation was restored in what had previously served as the main lobby while portions of corridor and classroom ceilings were exposed to create a greater sense of openness. Colorful murals hand-painted by a local artist and a custom perforated metal stair feature, which LPA interior designers call the “sail,” establish the project’s nautical identity. The design references Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, after whom the school was named. This “ship in a forest” narrative continues through driftwood-inspired acoustic baffles and cove-like collaboration zones designed as quiet retreats for reflection. On the playground, students can traverse a large wooden ship — a place of discovery within the oak-filled oasis. Outdoor programming supports social-emotional development through opportunities for teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking and physical activity, with unstructured areas that encourage freedom of choice.

Magellan International School first opened its doors in 2009, starting with a small program of 47 students, and grew year over year. Today, the site fits the school’s larger goals, including the ability to consolidate programming at one facility and accommodate future growth.