"Excellence, Education, Ethics, and Ecology", is The Willow School’s mantra. A small, independent coeducational day school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, The Willow School is committed to combining academic excellence and the joy of learning with experiencing the wonder of the natural world. It's campus is nestled on a 34-acre wooded site in rural New Jersey countryside, and the building and its surroundings are an integral feature in school’s curriculum. Children at The Willow School study the connections between mathematics, literature, history, and the natural world; observing ecosystem patterns and cycles; and sustaining a thriving natural environment.

As The Willow School embarks on its newest building project, the Health, Wellness and Nutrition Center (HWN Center), 7group collaborated with the project team through a design charrette and is providing energy modeling and commissioning services. The school hopes to expand the student’s vision of stewardship with the new center utilizing curriculum focused on an understanding of food from planting and harvesting to preparation. The new facility, which will include a teaching kitchen, gym, greenhouse and common areas, seeks to exceed LEED Platinum certification by pursuing International Living Building Institute’s Living Building Challenge, a set of design and construction guidelines promoting restorative design. 7group partner Tom Keiter has highlighted the school and its program through several videos, including High Performance Building and Willow School, which can be found in 7group’s video resources.

7group also collaborated with The Willow School in designing their highly integrative campus, and employed energy modeling and consulting, daylighting analysis, and systems and materials selections based on life cycle assessment for the campus’ classroom building (both top left images), which achieved LEED Gold certification, and the art barn (both bottom images), which earned LEED Platinum certification.