The Media and Technology Charter High School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Intended to serve a self-selected group of urban high school students, this charter school’s mission is to use media and technology not for vocational education, but to facilitate instruction of the basics and actively engage college-bound students in their education. Through a historic renovation and adaptive reuse of a 1917 structure, built originally as a Lincoln Motorcar Company showroom, a former autoparts store is being transformed into an innovative educational facility.

The moment students enter the building, they will have the freedom and facility to engage with media and technology in an array of academic and informal spaces. Computer stations in the lobby provide a friendly place to email and use the Internet. A computer classroom, science classroom, and video-edit room anchor the second floor and serve as the science and technology heart of the building. Complementing these hard-wired areas is a wireless network that extends through the entire school. The network enables media and technology to permeate all spaces and creates learning opportunities that were previously unavailable to students. Recognizing that a majority of students come from disadvantaged homes, the school will be providing laptops to each of the 160 students.

Flexibility and adaptability were key to accommodating the school’s interdisciplinary approach to learning. Largely organized around the concept that space was needed for morning advisory groups with ten students each, the school includes 16 spaces that can also accommodate daytime classes and an ongoing tutoring/mentoring program with the local university. The first floor assembly space functions as an auditorium, cafeteria, and a study hall, and provides ample space for a broad range of group sizes. Computer workstations and lounges in the lobby, as well as widened corridors near academic clusters, foster positive social interactions and impromptu meetings. Break-out rooms near classrooms accommodate project groups and help transcend the self-contained classroom model. All of these design features support diverse modes of learning and add an exciting dynamic to the school program.

Responding to the owner’s concern that the student population would need assistance with reading, the architect designed a dedicated Reading Room that could balance project-based areas with space for quiet reading and study that students may not have in their homes. Converted from an old storage area for car parts, this inviting haven for reading will be flooded with natural light from two directions.

Because learning activities will be taking place from early morning until evening, it was important to create an identity for this “home-away-from-home.” This unique school incorporates several striking features from the building’s glory days along the city’s once-famous “automile.” The restored grand marble stair with iron grillwork, Egyptian-inspired columns, and egg-and-dart mouldings create a distinct architectural theme throughout the school. High ceilings and ten-foot windows enliven learning spaces and create a sense of openness on this dense, quarter-acre site.

The school’s energy-efficient design, including a photovoltaic system that will produce 9% of the school’s electricity, will result in a 43% annual energy cost savings. The architect was also able to secure funding from the Commonwealth’s Green Schools Program to pay for almost 10% of the construction cost. Key data from the high performance design will be integrated into the curriculum to educate students about the inner-workings of their school and important global issues such as energy conservation and sustainability.