New Eagle Mountain High School Designed to Utilize Natural Features

Eagle Mountain High School

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District's newly built Eagle Mountain High School has opened its doors to students for the first day of school. The facility, designed by VLK Architects and made possible by a voter-approved bond proposal passed in 2017, marks the Texas district's fourth comprehensive high school, with capacity for 2,400 students.

A key component of the architectural design was the determination to take advantage of the location's natural features, according to a news announcement. The site's hilly terrain, including a once-dry pond and dry creek bed, was retained and incorporated into the campus design. For example, the pond was filled with 37 million gallons of water for landscape irrigation, and an enclosed bridge was built over the dry creek bed, to allow students to cross between the school's academic wing, dining areas, fine arts spaces, and athletics facilities safely. In addition, the campus utilizes a geothermal mechanical system for energy savings and lower maintenance costs.

Specially designed learning spaces include classrooms for robotics, floral design, agriculture, and STEM labs; facilities for band, choir, art, dance, and theater programs; and athletic areas including a stadium, fieldhouse with an indoor practice facility and weightroom, and spaces dedicated to baseball, softball, gymnastics, cheer, soccer, and tennis.
  
"The process and thoughtfulness Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD places into district facilities reflects their stewardship of the entire community," said Lauren Brown, VLK principal-in-charge, in a statement. "Eagle Mountain High School's design supports the district's instructional needs, commitment to energy-efficient system design, and the implementation of cohesive, student-focused learning environments inside and outside. As EMHS develops their traditions and culture, the outcomes will be generational and will be for the greater good of the community that supported the vision and success of the young learners."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Wenger Corporation Publishes Theater Rigging Guide

    Wenger Corporation, which provides solutions for performing arts and music education spaces, recently launched a free educational resource guide, “Rigging Guide for Performance Spaces.” The 32-page e-book is available on the company website and provides a background in the technical knowledge required to help administrators and educators make decisions in the planning process.

  • How Data Increases Community Confidence in School Facilities

    In school districts across America, the start of a new school year is met with optimism and new beginnings. But as the back-to-school excitement wears off, it recedes to the reality that many school facilities are in the same state of infrastructural decline that they’ve faced for years, if not decades, as these facilities deteriorate.

  • Texas District, Balfour Beatty Partner for Multiple Construction Projects

    General contracting, construction management, and design-build services provider Balfour Beatty recently announced that two of its joint venture teams were selected by the Crowley Independent School District (CISD) in Fort Worth, Texas, for a series of district construction projects.

  • Illinois District Breaks Ground on Two New Junior High Schools

    Joliet Public Schools District 86 in Joliet, Ill., recently began construction on two new junior high schools—the district’s first new schools since 2011, according to a news release. New facilities for Hufford Junior High School and Gompers Junior High School will serve the east and west sides of the city and be built next to their current facilities, which will be demolished after the project is complete.

Digital Edition