Build Group Completes La Scuola International School’s New Mission Campus in San Francisco, Creating a Next-Generation Learning Environment
Build Group, a leading vertically integrated builder, has announced the completion of La Scuola International School’s new Mission Campus, a four-story, purpose-built educational facility located in San Francisco’s Mission District. The newly completed campus was designed to support the school’s vision of immersive, globally focused learning while providing students and educators with a flexible environment that encourages collaboration, creativity, and hands-on experiences.
The new Mission Campus represents a modern approach to urban education by bringing together academic, culinary, and community spaces within a vertically organized building. Designed specifically around La Scuola’s interdisciplinary curriculum, the facility allows learning to extend beyond traditional classrooms and into shared spaces where students can explore, create, and engage with the wider community.
The campus features contemporary classrooms, fully equipped teaching kitchens, a rooftop deck designed for outdoor learning and gatherings, and carefully planned site improvements that strengthen the connection between the school and the surrounding Mission District neighborhood. Every area of the building was developed with the goal of supporting a dynamic educational experience where students can learn through interaction, experimentation, and real-world application.
The project highlights a growing trend in educational facility design: creating environments that are not only functional but also actively contribute to the learning process. Rather than separating classrooms from shared spaces, La Scuola’s new campus integrates multiple learning areas to encourage movement, collaboration, and community engagement.
Build Group played a key role in transforming the school’s vision into reality, using its vertically integrated construction approach to deliver the project with a high level of quality and coordination. The company self-performed critical structural and interior scopes, allowing greater control over craftsmanship, scheduling, and execution throughout the construction process.
By managing important portions of the work directly, Build Group was able to improve coordination between different trades and maintain consistency across the project. This approach was especially valuable in specialized areas such as the teaching kitchens, rooftop learning spaces, and interior educational environments, where precision, durability, and attention to detail were essential.
The teaching kitchens serve as a central feature of the new campus, providing students with spaces where culinary education becomes part of the broader learning experience. These facilities support La Scuola’s educational philosophy by encouraging exploration, creativity, and cultural understanding through hands-on activities.
The rooftop deck adds another dimension to the campus by providing an outdoor area for learning, gathering, and community events. In an urban setting like San Francisco, the space creates an important connection to the outdoors and offers students an environment where they can collaborate and engage beyond traditional indoor classrooms.
“ La Scuola gave us the chance to build something the city needs more of — a school designed for how students actually learn today. Delivering a four-story vertical campus with integrated teaching kitchens in the heart of the Mission required real craftsmanship and disciplined coordination from every member of the team,” said Nathan Rundel, President of Build Group.
He added that the company’s ability to self-perform important structural and interior work helped maintain quality standards throughout the project. “By self-performing the structural and interior scopes that matter most, we were able to hold the quality bar where it counts and hand La Scuola a facility that will serve their students and the community for generations,” Rundel said.
The completion of the Mission Campus also reflects La Scuola International School’s commitment to creating educational spaces that align with its unique learning philosophy. Based on the Reggio Emilia approach, the school emphasizes the importance of the environment as an active part of the educational journey.
“Our new Mission Campus is more than a building — it is a daily expression of what we believe education can be,” said Valentina Imbeni, Head of School at La Scuola International School. “Our pedagogy follows the Reggio Emilia approach, which is truly unique in its commitment to the environment as the ‘third teacher.’ Every space was designed to actively shape how our students learn — through their hands, their curiosity, and their connection to the world around them.”
The completed campus demonstrates how thoughtful design and skilled construction can work together to create educational environments that support modern teaching methods. With its integrated classrooms, specialized facilities, and community-focused spaces, La Scuola’s Mission Campus provides a model for future urban schools seeking to combine learning, creativity, and connection within a single environment.
Through its successful delivery of the project, Build Group continues to demonstrate its ability to execute complex, high-quality construction projects while bringing innovative architectural and educational visions to life.
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