Add as a preferred source on Google

Modern HS with Skylights Upgrades Historic Mass. Town

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 09/10/19

The new Billerica Memorial High School, in the historic town of Billerica (just north of Boston), recently opened its doors to more than 1,600 students in grades 8 through 12, plus 200 students in their Pre-K program. After a 2012 district-wide master plan identified the need for a new high school, a collaboration between the Massachusetts School Building Authority and the town of Billerica, resulted in a 324,000 square-foot new building that emphasizes a flexible learning environment and serves as a community resource.

The new Billerica Memorial High School, in the historic town of Billerica (just north of Boston), emphasizes a flexible learning environment and serves as a community resource. Inside, skylights and large windows create an open and bright environment.

The $176 million project was designed by Perkins and Will, constructed by Shawmut Design and Construction and project managed by Leftfield.

The new building is built on the old school site and will include a stadium, turf field, courtyard with an outdoor stage and movie screen, which will be completed by the end of the school year. Inside, skylights and large windows create an open and bright environment.  

Billerica Memorial, designed with community in mind, can accommodate town-wide events in the gym, auditorium and dining commons. Additional site improvements like bike and walking paths and a quad-style civic green will offer lots of spaces for the community to gather.

Perkins and Will incorporated the high school’s past and the town’s history as a New England mill town into their design. They integrated archival photos of the high school, including some of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy visiting the school as a senator, into the interior design. They opted for traditional building materials while also adding a modern touch.

“At every scale, we used simple, honest materials — wood, brick, steel — in thoughtful, inventive compositions. In that way, we marry the architectural grammar with the community’s story,” Patrick Cunningham, designer at Perkins and Will, said in a press release.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Anderson Brulé Architects Rebrands as ABA Studios

    Anderson Brulé Architects, based in San Jose, Calif., recently announced that it is celebrating 40 years of service by rebranding under a new name, according to a news release. The architectural, interior design, and planning firm will now be known as ABA Studios to refresh its identity underneath a new generation of leadership.

  • California Middle School Completes Two New Academic Buildings

    Sunnyvale Middle School in Sunnyvale, Calif., recently announced that construction is complete on two new classroom buildings of two stories each, according to a district news release. The new wing will house seventh- and eighth-grade students and is part of a larger campus modernization project.

  • KI Launches K–12 Classroom Furniture Giveaway

    Contract furniture company KI recently announced the launch of its fourth-annual Classroom Furniture Giveaway, which awards $50,000 each to four K–12 educators across the U.S., according to a news release. The goal is to address decreasing student engagement and increasing teacher burnout numbers by updating learning spaces to accommodate modern needs.

  • Malibu High School Campus Completes $102M Phase 1 of Construction

    Malibu High School in Malibu, Calif., recently announced that it has completed phase 1 of construction for its new campus, a news release reports. The first phase consisted of developing and modernizing the site of a former elementary school into a new, 70,000-square-foot, two-story facility.

Digital Edition