Millenium High School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

1) What exemplary ideas do the designs contain that enhance learning?

The design program is structured around the Principal’s portfolio-based learning education model. This approach calls for an environment that provides learning variety and flexibility for each student. A key component of the program is the daily 30-minute advisory group meeting, where groups of 14 to 15 students meet daily with their adult advisor and stay together for the entire four years. These particular components require a unique architectural solution to support it.

Our design centered on the theme of shifting from the old paradigm of learning to a new paradigm — from the traditional classroom setting within a rectangular room with the teacher leading the dialogue in front to active information exchange that can happen anywhere within the school’s perimeter, emulating real life.

With that in mind, our firm focused on:

LEARNING AND GATHERING NICHES. In this school, circulation has been combined with program space. The circulation areas have been repurposed as group workspace, individual niches and impromptu gathering spaces. Additionally, the interconnecting stair is designed as bleacher-like seating to encourage socialization, which is an important component of this education model.

FLEXIBLE TEACHING AREAS. The classrooms promote alternative ways of teaching — moving far away from the traditional “talking head” at the front of the room. For example, the students’ tables are castored to allow for infinite configurations including project tables, auditorium style rows and horseshoe configuration. Each room has two white boards, two teaching walls supporting adult & student-centered learning.

VISUAL STIMULATION. Since the school is located in 35-story office building within a dense, urban environment, it was important to allow natural light to penetrate the space, instilling the school with the city’s energy. The finish palette responds to the context and results from interviews with students and teachers, who requested a “live” space that is also comfortable. Vibrant colors and warm woods dominate the palette.

2) What innovations in the planning, programming and design process supported the realization of those exemplary ideas.

This school represents the idea of applying private sector lessons to public school design and delivery. It utilizes the best concepts from the private sector such as alternative work environments that include task-specific environments, teaming spaces and seamlessly integrated technology to create an environment that fosters creativity and learning.

With a condensed 14-week process, from inception of the design to the first day of school, our firm worked with the school, public agencies and school board to make this aggressive plan a reality. The constraints of this schedule demanded a unique design/build delivery process, much more typical in the private sector. This aggressive, streamlined methodology provided a design-led process that controlled schedule and budget, while providing superb design services that supported the school’s progressive learning model.

Educator Narrative

Community: Through our conscious effort to build a sense of school community within an urban context, glass panels are incorporate next to classroom doors, interior classroom walls, and form the main office walls. The glass maximized natural lighting, allowing exterior light to mix with interior, magnifying the effect of both. The extensive use of glass supports the school’s mission of creating a professional development culture focused on “transparent” teaching. By utilizing a large amount of glass, the teachers, students and administrators can see what is happening in each of the learning environments. Since a great deal of being a teenager involves waiting for that “exciting thing to happen” or wondering what their friends are doing, the building’s transparency affords that opportunity.

The central staircase, vertically uniting the three floors, has created that same effect, allowing students to see what is happening elsewhere. The circulation areas blend with the lounge spaces affording a roomier and less trafficked changing of classes. As well, these circulation spaces were created as an extension of the classroom, allowing for small gatherings, work sessions and socializing.

Our original goal of transparency was influenced by our desire to symbolize college — an environment of serious learning. Glass, because it is fragile, also suggests trust and maturity. In effect we have said, “You deserve an adult environment and know how to treat it.” Also, the number of even minor incidents has been greatly reduced because the entire floor is visible; someone is always paying attention. This transparency has positively affected the students in the sense that they feel the adults really are paying attention to what they do and who they are. It also works as a deterrent: it is very difficult to be destructive with witnesses.

Literacy: The inclusion of conferencing alcoves, wooden furniture, tackable walls, and a combination of wooden and soft furniture within each of the classrooms are all manifestations of the school’s extensive literacy program. The classroom alcoves serve as reading, conferencing and library areas since students are reading and writing 10 periods a week in school. The tackable walls allow student work to be displayed and read by others. We decided to incorporate wooden furniture to suggest the idea of a library and college, both associated with reading and studying.

Teaching and Learning: Many other details of the design addressed specific issues around teaching and learning. Triple sliding whiteboards on opposite ends of the room allow teachers to share classrooms. Teachers can prep independently, save and unveil information without having to re-write it. As well, they can use the entire classroom — there is no front or back of the room. The boards have been wildly popular with the staff who have also used the magnetic portion of the boards to post and un-post items quickly. The classroom furniture itself can be configured in many set-ups so that lesson form and function can be matched. This was especially important to us in the science labs where fixed tri-facials, often the norm, are great for labs, but inconvenient the other 75% of the time. Finally, planning for wireless mobile labs increases the efficiency of the space by eliminating the need for a dedicated single purpose room.