Facility of the Month March/April 2008 – Presidential Treatment
Tacoma School District recently found itself with the challenge of harnessing its past, present and future with a renovation project at Abraham Lincoln’s eponymous high school that converted the school from a traditional campus to an academy setting.
The classic gothic, “L”-shaped school has stood prominently at the center of the community since 1913. To better meet the needs of students, the district and design firm DLR Group worked to improve the way the school operates on many levels: student-to-student, student-to-staff and school-to-community.
The existing Lincoln High School building comprises three stories and was initially organized in a traditional hierarchical layout — a large, comprehensive high school threaded with double-loaded corridors.
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Photos by Chris J. Roberts |
“The Lincoln High School modernization and addition project was highly complex and significant in its importance, not only to the school district and its patrons, but to numerous stakeholders, including the historical and local business community,” says Pete Wall, Tacoma School District director of planning and construction.
DLR Group’s design team collaborated with the community and school to establish two primary goals: preserve the building’s historic character and accommodate the new small schools program developed at the outset of the project.
Academy Learning
The renovation of the school divides the existing building into six zones — one in each wing on each floor — that allows for up to six academies with unique academic approaches.
Three academies were introduced after the project’s completion: Asset Building Education Academy, Global Opportunities at Lincoln Academy and School of Urban Literacy.
PROJECT DATA Facility Name: Lincoln High School |
The learning centers include a common “living room” area, independent/project learning space and teacher planning and technology areas.
Operable walls enable the core to flex and stretch, providing opportunities for alternative teaching and student gathering.
Care was taken to design each academy so it could function independently within the framework of the larger building. The building’s circulation is designed so students from one academy do not have to move through another academy to access shared spaces such as the media center, cafeteria, auditorium and gymnasium.
The design preserved and original school chalkboards and allowed them to be remounted to display team-building projects, which bolsters student interaction and reaffirms each academy’s unique identity while connecting directly to the building’s history.
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| The renovated corridor lobbies now serve as the main entries to each of the academies. |
The average classroom size increased from 750 square feet to more than 850 square feet, allowing the incorporation of additional technology resources in classrooms.
A new science hall strategically nestled in the bend of the existing building offers seismic support to the historic structure. The design gives direct access to the science hall from each academy.
Honoring Architecture
The renovation of the high school structure demanded the same careful attention as the reorganization of interior academic spaces. Spacious corridors, high ceilings and the overall architectural history were preserved to the greatest extent possible.
Within the interior, 12-foot by 8-foot windows along the length of the building provide natural light. In the upper level of the main building, hues of green, blue and yellow from stained glass skylights provide warm interior lighting.
Architectural details were recast from cracked and broken plaster originals. The existing arch from the original north-facing entrance was carefully disassembled and relocated at the connection between the existing building and the addition.
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| The Student Learning Center’s living room area provides a social and learning commons for each academy. |
“The windows were in good shape, considering their age,” says Carrie Baldwin, project manager at DLR Group. “Most of the school has no air conditioning, so operable windows are beneficial in providing fresh, natural ventilation.”
Delivering the Vision
The Lincoln High School renovation received the 2008 Shirley Cooper Award, which is awarded to two projects every year by a jury that is organized by the American Association of School Administrators, American Institute of Architects and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.
“This project met the challenge of sustaining the architectural integrity of the historic center of the neighborhood while incorporating the future needs of the students,” according to the AASA.
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| Students from one academy do not have to move other academies to access shared spaces such as the new media center. |
The reincarnation of Lincoln High School integrates its past, present and future, which honors the belief of its namesake who said: “Upon the subject of education … I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in.”
Craig Mason, AIA, LEED AP, is principal at DLR Group.
PRODUCT TEAM Owner: Tacoma School District; Arthur Jarvis, Superintendent |