East Leyden High School Addition

Franklin Park, Illinois

Firm

SPM Architects, Inc.

Client

Leyden High School District 212

Area

134,500 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$50,900,000

Completion Date

03/2020

Cultivate Studios

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Design Team
O’Higgins & Arnold Sustainability, LLC (MEP Engineers); Ntrive (Structural Engineers); International Contractors, Inc. (Construction Manager)

With limited space in the basement-level cafeteria, the district was forced to provide five separate lunch periods, which hindered academic scheduling. The existing layout created adjacency issues for the fine arts and P.E. departments, and the pool. The solution for these challenges consists of a U-shaped addition surrounding a new central courtyard. The south end of the addition consists of a new fine arts wing with a dedicated entrance foyer adjacent to the existing auditorium. The southeast corner contains an early childhood center with a dedicated entrance and traffic control. The area houses a commercial daycare center to serve the school and surrounding community. The focal point of the addition is a new cafeteria/commons wing that includes space to accommodate up to 650 diners at one time across two levels. This enables the school to improve academic schedules. The space includes soft-seated common areas for group study, socialization, and organizational meetings. The north end of the addition houses a new natatorium. The pool has a competition-level dive pool and a constant-depth pool that can accommodate swim meets and water polo. The addition creates a landscaped courtyard that is designed to provide the students with a tranquil space for dining, meetings, informal performances by the fine arts programs, as well as circulation between the new and old buildings. This addition includes multiple dedicated entrances for drop-off and pickup. The new traffic patterns supplant a previous system that mixed buses, student parking, staff parking, and pedestrians into a small area that was inefficient and potentially dangerous. The addition incorporated numerous energy-efficient elements that reduce the carbon footprint of the facility. The cafeteria/commons windows are triple glazed with low-E film and argon gas fill. Lighting throughout the addition is LED, and daylight harvesting is used extensively to reduce the need for artificial light.