New High School Planned in Los Angeles

Amino School Los AngelesOn July 22, 2014 a massive fire broke out and destroyed half of the Animo South Los Angeles High School campus. Located in one of the toughest areas in South Central Los Angeles, an area that was a central trouble spot during the 1964 Watts and the 1992 Rodney King Riots, residents’ median family income is less than $35,000/year and 25-percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Green Dot Public Schools is replacing the burned school with a new public charter high school for 630 students that is visually open but entirely secured.

The replacement building contains 11 classrooms, two science labs, a faculty lounge, new administrative and counseling offices, and public courtyard space for student gatherings and activities.

Designed on an extremely limited budget and aggressive schedule, simple cost-effective gestures were deployed in the use of cladding, fenestration, color and transparency to create a memorable sense of richness, providing a bright moment in an extremely tough inner-city community. Unlike most school that are enclosed by a property line security fence, the South Los Angeles High School building is surrounded by a 20-foot-high perforated bullet resistant metal walls that are integrated into the building design. The project architectural firm is Brooks + Scarpa. Learn more at www.brooksscarpa.com.

Featured

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Breaks Ground on New Classroom Building

    Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, recently began construction on a new, $16-million classroom building for its campus, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot building will stand two stories and connect the existing upper and lower campuses.

  • Image courtesy of Kahler Slater

    UW–Madison Announces Completion of Morgridge Hall

    The University of Wisconsin–Madison recently announced that construction is complete on Morgridge Hall, a new academic building, according to a news release. The facility opened September 3 at the start of the fall semester, consolidating the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences into a single facility for the first time.

  • Preparing for the Next Era of Healthcare Education, Innovation

    Across the country, public universities and community colleges are accelerating investments in healthcare education facilities as part of a broader strategy to address workforce shortages, modernize outdated infrastructure, and expand clinical training capacity. These projects, which are often located at the center of campus health and science districts, are no longer limited to traditional classrooms.