Our design attempts to energize a slumbering academic building and evoke an air of excitement about learning. The addition is visible upon entering the site and creates a foil for the truncated massing of the existing school, allowing one to appreciate the whole complex in a new way.

Built in 1970, William H. Hall High School reflects many of the approaches common in school design of that period: exterior walls were built without windows to cut energy costs, while the use of deep floor plates left large areas lacking natural light or ventilation. We reorganized the existing building to meet the needs of a changing curriculum and projected enrollment increases from 1,200 to 1,500 students. The library is now larger. Non-academic and administrative rooms are relocated to permit academic spaces to expand in distinct disciplinary neighborhoods. We increased the amount of circulation space and reorganized it to reduce congestion and improve the flow of students between classes. We added windows throughout the building and interior spaces that had no natural light have been converted to support spaces that do not need to be used for extended periods. We also relocated many offices and teaching areas to the building perimeter and provided them with windows. The addition has three levels: art and technology studios are on the ground level; general purpose classrooms and science laboratories are on the two floors above.