Texas High School Wins Design Award

By Lisa Kopochinski

DENTON, Texas—VLK Architects was recently awarded a 2019 Gold Brick in Architecture Award for Ray Braswell High School, located in Denton, by the Brick Industry Association (BIA).

For more than three decades, the BIA has sponsored one of the country’s most prestigious architectural award programs—the Brick in Architecture Awards. This award has become the nation’s premiere architectural award featuring clay brick.

“I am thrilled that Braswell High School was selected for the Gold award for Brick in Architecture Awards,” said Justin Hiles, Chief Operations Officer, VLK Architects, in a statement/

This $114.5 million project was a collaborative effort between Balfour Beatty and DMG Masonry.

Hiles said the design was intended to announce the arrival to Denton ISD, and more importantly, serve as a hub for the growing 380 corridor.

“By selecting local Denton brick as the primary building material, we were able to highlight a key local material to achieve this goal.”

The high school spans 532,000 square feet and sits on 108 acres. Named after Dr. Ray Braswell, who served Denton Independent School District for more than 30 years, was completed in 2016. More than a year and a half of planning and design, plus two and a half years of construction went into the delivery of this transformative learning facility.

The school opened in 2016 and serves families in the growing communities along the U.S. Highway 380 corridor. The school is named after retired Denton ISD teacher, administrator and superintendent, Dr. Ray Braswell, who led the district during tremendous growth.

Designed as a focal point for the community, flexible features and spaces encourage the campus to be used for community-focused events. Academic and extracurricular offerings bring pride to the school and the families served by the four “learning houses” that naturally create smaller learning communities, providing students with individualized instruction.