Wilson High School

Primary challenge: Rejuvenate an aging campus with a single building intervention broader issues: The new building, conceived as a site intervention, seeks to re-engage the school with
its site and poses the question, ?Can a high school campus provide some measure of meaningful public space that is so invariably absent from our typical single family residential neighborhoods??
Is rejuvenating our aging campuses a vital issue of urban sustainability both in the terms of energy and materials conservation, as well as for preserving the role of the civic space?
Matrix alteration: The building seeks to transform a campus where ?site? has long been relegated to the ?space between building modules.? Plaza, yard, stairs, bridge, and walk are carved out
of both site and building and visually and experientially intertwined, creating not only
?public? space but real ?community.?
The project alters the site?s spatial matrix and transforms its scale and character from
uniform and predictable to varying and experientially stimulating.
The new design stimulates social interaction by redefining and animating exterior campus spaces and by establishing engaging transitions from ?private? campus spaces to the
broader public domain.
The scope: The new three-story building replaces five existing buildings and eight portables, consolidating and opening up the campus. The regained site area is developed with planting, plazas, and parking. The new building houses: general classrooms, science and
computer labs, a therapeutic learning center, the library, and administration and guidance centers. This high-performance facility features integrated design strategies providing both functional classroom daylighting and displacement ventilation.