Project narrative: The Brookline High School Expansion Project is the crossroads of civic legacy, ambitious academic curricula, and architectural science. The STEM Wing offers students, educators, and the neighborhood the necessary resources to tackle evolving challenges – both immediate and long term. Healthy minds and healthy bodies are supported through environments prioritizing indoor air quality, daylighting, acoustics, comfort, safety, and social connection. Educational transparency meets visual transparency to build upon the ethos of the historic community.
Project location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Firm name: William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.
Completion: 2021
Project type: K-12 School
Project information: Addition
Size: 70,000 sf
Client: Town of Brookline
Jury comments: Balancing transparency with interaction, and warm materials with a modern interior, the open spaces connect to daylight to encourage learning and productivity. Color creates cohesion within the spaces, connecting them not only horizontally, but vertically as well. A community-driven project, the building users’ (students’) movement and activity within the spaces are appropriately positioned within the circulation “spine” of the building. An wonderful example of inclusive interior spaces for learning, established through visibility, flexibility, accessibility, and attention to views and natural light within an urban context. The jury commends that mental health aspects are being addressed, with students as the stakeholders.
Images/Photographer(s): Robert Benson
Landscape Architect: Lemon Brooke
General Contractor: Skanska
Project or Construction Manager: Hill International
