Pittsburgh’s Environmental Charter School will relocate its middle and high schools to a new facility in South Oakland.

School officials this week announced plans to establish schools at 743 Technology Drive.

Transition to the new campus is anticipated to occur before the 2027-28 school year.

Stan O’Loughlin, Environmental Charter’s board president, said in a statement that the relocation will allow the charter school to expand its offerings, give students more opportunities for outdoor learning and better connection with resources in the city.

“It is incredible to think that what started as an idea of a small group of inspired parents in a living room near Frick Park in 2007 has grown to this moment, where we are poised to move our Middle and High Schools to a brand new facility along the river that is built out specifically to serve the needs of our students,” O’Loughlin said.

Environmental Charter opened in 2008 for students in kindergarten through third grades. It’s since grown to one of the city’s largest charter schools and enrolls more than 1,000 K-12 students across four buildings in the East End.

Environmental Charter and The Elmhurst Group, owners of the Technology Drive property, will enter into a 20-year facility lease agreement, with the option to extend the lease for an additional four or five years.

School officials plan that Elmhurst and Mascaro Construction will begin construction and fit out the more than 92,000-square-foot building next month. Firm IKM Architecture and Environmental Charter representatives worked to design the space. Anne Chen of BLD:ac, a capital project consultant firm, is project manager.

At the campus, Environmental Charter will operate independent middle and high schools with separate entrances, administrations, staff and programming. The schools can share facilities like the cafeteria, gymnasium and other learning spaces.

When construction and relocation is complete, Environmental Charter will close its middle school in Garfield and its high school in Morningside.

The middle school opened in 2019 and the high school in 2020.