The new high school addition provides flexible spaces with more than one function. Moveable walls, reconfigurable furniture, shared faculty offices, and multi-functional spaces create a 21st-century learning environment in a smaller footprint.
Collaboration and coming together were a major focus in the arrangement of the educational spaces. The learning environments extend out of the classrooms and into the lobby and corridor providing a full complement of learning settings, establishing a student-centered learning environment.
How do we increase space utilization for modern learning when 60% of the existing 1922 high school spaces were underused?
Utilizing a design thinking process, BLDD worked with educators and the community to create conceptual spaces to solve the high school's existing problems. This led to a "hacked" environment, where students and faculty tested prototyped rooms to gather feedback for the most effective, solutions-based designs for the new space.
- 4 Science Rooms
- Expanded Administrative Areas
- 39,000 Square Foot Field House
- Weight Room & Locker Room
- Band Room
- Choral Room
Mattoon school district's LIFT (Leaders Innovating for Tomorrow) houses a regional innovation center for the surrounding 28 school districts in the area.
The design for the Knoxville High School began with visioning workshops to determine the desired educational practices and programs. After understanding the variety of learning environments recommended to meet the needs of 21st century curriculum and instruction, BLDD's task was to group these learning environments into a cohesive organization that facilitates a seamless delivery of the educational program.
With an already thriving program, the planning of this facility and its location needed to be tightly knit into other district programs, such as athletics and general education. A key consideration was also the ability to expand program offerings in the future, through enlarged facilities and features which could include on-site gardens, crops or additional livestock support.