Highlands School is a pre-K thru 8th grade school whose campus is located in a residential neighborhood. Though land-locked, the school has a buffer of dense forest surrounding the core buildings. In 2015 ArchitectureWorks began a planning process with the school to engage its stakeholders – parents, staff, students, and alumni. Through a series of workshops, online surveys, classroom discussions, small group meetings, and town hall meetings our team developed a prioritized list of goals for the masterplan that would serve the campus for twenty years. The first phase of the masterplan is a Student Life Center comprising a Gymnasium, a lunchroom with commercial cooking kitchen, four new classrooms and support spaces, and informal student gathering spaces. Phase one will be followed by future middle school classroom updates. Phase one is projected to be complete Fall 2019.
Highlands School is a pre-K thru 8th grade private school whose 12-acre campus is located in a residential neighborhood. Though land-locked, the school has a buffer of dense forest surrounding the core buildings. In 2015 ArchitectureWorks led a planning process with the school to engage its stakeholders – parents, staff, students, and alumni. Through a series of workshops, online surveys, classroom discussions, small group meetings, and town hall meetings our team developed a prioritized list of goals for a masterplan that would serve the campus for twenty years.
The first phase of the masterplan is a Student Life Center comprising a Gymnasium, a lunchroom with commercial cooking kitchen, four new classrooms and support spaces, a storm shelter and informal student gathering spaces. The overall vision was to provide a space on the campus focused on the wellbeing of the students, where fitness, nutrition, and education can coexist. The new building opens to the rest of the campus through a series of large porches, with some of the porches facing the quad while others open to a rocky outcrop that defines the edge of campus, creating outdoor classroom spaces.
AWARDS
ACIA Top Block Award, 2020
