McHenry High School Upper Campus Center for Science, Technology & Industry - McHenry, Illinois
Wold Architects & Engineers
Posted: July 1, 2022 | Projects
Wold Architects and Engineers assisted McHenry Community High School District in transforming its Upper High School Campus, which opened the addition in August 2021 and serves over 1,800 students, in partnership with LAMP Incorporated. To meet its goal of consolidating 10th through 12th graders at the west campus and developing a freshman center at the east campus, the district prioritized the needs of both learning communities to establish specific expansion and renovation criteria aligned with the evolving curriculum.
Photograph courtesy of Kristin Rajotte & Troy Thies Photography
As a part of the design process, the school district and Wold collaborated extensively with local business partners to create a community-driven legacy that emphasizes local opportunities. The school’s future-ready career and technology labs incorporate settings for active collaboration with students and local businesses.
The innovative curriculum led the way for the design of the new upper west campus addition, which offers science, technology, college, and career-oriented pathways. The 80,817-square-foot, three-story addition and renovation go beyond the traditional models of learning environments to approach the diverse needs of every student. Spaces include specialized amenities yet remain adaptable to programmatic changes. The learning environments accommodate business incubators, journalism, advanced engineering, construction trades, advanced manufacturing, robotics, advanced graphics, biomedical sciences, chemistry, and mathematics.
Opportunities for diverse learning modes are blended throughout the expansion with a critical design emphasis on daylight and connectivity. Extended learning areas create a seamless relationship with classrooms, and a variety of independent learning settings are sprinkled throughout the school, including a Learning Ledge on the first level that overlooks the advanced machinery in the manufacturing lab. A multi-purpose space resides on the upper floor, with the ability to be converted to additional classrooms in response to potential enrollment growth.
Combining these unique opportunities for students into one campus has established equality in learning experiences that had been previously divided by the two sites. Renovations of the existing school include a resource center, upgraded art labs, a choir room, a career center, and improvement to circulation with passive study zones. Placement of the addition prompted the relocation of an expanded secure entrance, reconfigured parking and drives, and a rebranded identity to the entire campus. Exterior material choices combine familiar metal panel colors with vibrant accents at the entrance to showcase school colors, and brick selections match the existing palette. The layered feel to the exterior relates to the functions within each floor level, starting with technology and industry at the base, science in the middle, and math at the top floor.
The project has received an Award of Merit from the Illinois Association of School Boards for excellence in the design of educational environments, was elected as one of 22 for display in the Educational Environments Exhibition at the 2021 IASB/IASA/IASBO Joint Annual Conference in November 2021, and is a winner of the Patcraft Schools of the Future 2022 award.
Architect
Wold Architects & Engineers
220 N. Smith Street, #310, Palatine, IL 60067
www.woldae.com
Structural Engineer
Johnson Wilbur Adams
330 S. Naperville Road, #300, Wheaton, IL 60187
Electrical Engineer
TLC Engineering Solutions
1301 West, 22nd Street, #210
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Mechanical Engineer
Wold Architects & Engineers
220 N. Smith Street, #310
Palatine, IL 60067
General Contractor
LAMP Incorporated
460 N. Grove Avenue, Elgin, IL 60120
Location: McHenry, Illinois
Date Bid: Jul 2019
Construction Period: Oct 2019 to May 2021
Site: 2.75 (addition & redeveloped site only)
Total Square Feet: 80,817
Building Sizes: First floor, 29,064; second floor, 28,775; each additional floor, 22,978; total, 80,817 square feet.
Building Height: First floor, 16'; second floor, 14'; each additional floor, 14'; floor to floor, 14'; penthouse, 15'; total, 59'.
Number of Buildings: Two; 32 classrooms in addition.
Basic Construction Type: Addition & Renovation/Structural Steel.
Foundation: Cast-in-place, reinforced concrete, slab-on-grade.
Exterior Walls: Brick, curtain wall, insulated metal panel.
Roof: Membrane.
Floors: Concrete, composite deck.
Interior Walls: CMU, metal stud drywall.
Click here to view the full cost details for this project in the July/August 2022 issue of DCD