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Project Description
John R. Rogers High School
1622 East Wellesley Avenue
Spokane, WA 99207
Completed: August 2009
John R. Rogers High School, originally built in 1932, was renovated and
restored with a new addition designed to complement the classic art-deco
design. The project provides a renewed, state-of-the-art high school
and a refreshed, revitalized community icon in a working-class
neighborhood with a proud history.
Previously, the school site was occupied by multiple additions
constructed during the ‘50s, ‘70s and ‘80s surrounding the original
school such that the only façade of the original building still exposed
to view was the north front entrance. The additions were all
single-story structures of varying materials and design, none of which
complemented the original structure. The additions also covered or
destroyed historic side entrances to the original building where they
connected to the original structure.
The
revitalized campus removes all the single-story buildings that
previously engulfed three sides of the building, once again highlighting
the original art-deco structure and saving 102,000 square feet of
building shell that was reorganized into new academic space. Side
entrances once hidden or destroyed previously have been carefully
uncovered and reconstructed where necessary, replicating the historic
original. The entire exterior of the original building was cleaned,
with masonry repointed and cast-stone ornaments repaired or replaced to
restore the historic façades.
Directly connected at the south end of the original building is a
159,000-square-foot addition designed to be a contemporary complement to
the classic original art-deco high school. The project uses materials –
brick of similar size and color as well as similar-colored precast
concrete – in harmony with the glazed brick and cast stone of the
original. Two large, celebratory entrances located on either side of
the second-floor curved-glass and metal-panel façade of the library
clearly establish entrance points for students and visitors while a
third entrance to the athletic center at the east façade is easily seen
as secondary to the main entrances.
The
architecture of the addition further complements the original by
utilizing a continuous precast concrete base with strong vertical-column
elements, creating a crenellated parapet line similar to the castellated
profile at the parapets of the original building.
A
new clock tower located near the student entrance to the commons becomes
a beacon seen from Wellesley, clearly signaling to all that the main
school entrance is now on the east side of the campus. This tower has
become Rogers’ signature element – an architectural identity icon.
Sustainable features of the school were important in the re-birth of the
school. Daylighting and views are a major design element within Rogers
High School as nearly every classroom has windows, either to the outside
of the building or into a courtyard contained within the building. Each
room is equipped with lighting sensors that turn lights off after
periods of inactivity. To maximize the number of teaching spaces with
views, strategies such as incorporating overhead sectional doors with
vision glazing into vocational labs were employed. The building is
designed to meet the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol.
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2009
Mayor's Urban Design Award Winner
