Firm of Record: SHW Group, LLP

location

Baytown, TX

Area of building

375,000 sf - Phase 1

50,000 sf - Phase 2

completion date

Summer, 2008

Project information

A smaller than usual but well-proportioned site became the primary catalyst to the design of a compact floor plan with every building and site element that a large high school could possibly ask for, including plans for future expansion of 600 more students. GCCISD had not built a new high school in over 25 years and needed to reduce the population of the existing high schools and also add additional population.

The site contains (4) practice fields, (8) tennis courts, baseball stadium, softball stadium, football and track stadium, and band practice areas and a significant amount of storm detention. Parking includes 50 visitor spaces, 300+ staff parking spaces, 500+student parking spaces, and 20 bus spaces with a high priority placed on the separation of bus, student, staff, visitor and pedestrian circulation. Such a densely packed site led to a compact plan, but the liberal use of layered clerestories, natural lighting at exterior walls, light materials and a wide main street commons blossomed into an open and airy interior that feels anything but closed in.

The basic plain is (2) stories, broken into (4) grade level houses, a CATE house, large media center and administration suite south of the main street. North of the main street the specials and noisy activities are placed, including 1200 seat auditorium, 800 seat dining, 1200 seat main gym, 500 seat auxiliary gym, band, choir, orchestra, and auxiliary music halls and practice rooms, boy and girls athletic and PE locker rooms and coaches offices, (2) weight rooms and a variety of special use classes and spaces including art, dance and theatre. Design elements are kept clean and simple to compliment the scale and the materials used for the exterior (brick, rock faced and burnished CMU, white plaster, clear anodized metals, stainless steel accents) and interior (white finishes, brick accents, galvanized steel, natural wood decks and beams, stone porcelain pavers) maintain a clam yet mature feel consistently throughout.