Faced with the task of more than doubling the building area of an existing parochial school on a tight and highly constrained site, as well as adding over 100 new parking spaces for a number of related ancillary functions, an innovative design strategy was developed that makes the most of the challenging programmatic conditions.  By infilling the site at grade with a new parking structure, encircled by a driveway at the site’s perimeter, an elevated plinth is created that holds aloft the school addition’s new programmatic elements.  This configuration allows maximum efficiency and flexibility for the school, which serves the community in one fashion or another nearly 24 hours a day, while simultaneously providing a secure and stimulating learning environment for the students.