THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF SCHOOL DESIGN WERE INVESTIGATED BY FOCUSING ON THE IMPACT OF A UNIQUELY DESIGNED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BUILDING, THE KENSINGTON SCHOOL. AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO SYNTHESIZE ROLE THEORY, DECISION MAKING THEORY, SOCIAL SYSTEM THEORY, AND SUCH PROBLEM AREAS AS STAFF PEER GROUPS, EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION, ADMINISTRATION, ORGANIZATION, AND SCHOOL POLICY INTO THE RESEARCH ACTIVITY. THE INVESTIGATION WAS A FORMULATIVE OR MODEL BUILDING STUDY, AND THE PRINCIPAL METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION WAS PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION. THIS WAS SUPPLEMENTED BY INFORMAL INTERVIEWS, INTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF RECORDS, AND VERBATIM ACCOUNTS OF MEETINGS. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT, BY CONSIDERING THE UNANTICIPATED CONSEQUENCES OF PURPOSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION AND BOTH LATENT AND MANIFEST INFORMAL GROUP INFLUENCES, THE RESEARCHERS COULD BEST SEE HOW THE RATIONAL AND INFORMAL PATTERNS OF INTERACTION OR BELIEF MEET IN THIS INNOVATIVE SITUATION AND HOW THESE PATTERNS HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR EACH OTHER. (GD)