Heritage Middle School (Livingston, New Jersey)

Livingston, New Jersey

Firm

Design Resources Group

Client

Livingston School District

Area

52,897 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$6,241,846

Completion Date

08/2002

Two additions to Heritage Middle School were formulated to meet the program requirements. A three-story classroom addition and a multipurpose room addition were constructed. The orientation of the classroom addition was guided by the existing slope and a plan for future expansion back to the existing three-story classroom wing.
Programmatic requirements for the classroom addition included 13 classrooms, four small-group instruction rooms, two high-tech science rooms, and two family and consumer science rooms (including five fully protected and equipped food-preparation stations). All additions are accessible. Ramping is installed on the first and third floors, and a new elevator core is in the classroom addition near the existing building link.
Three-color, split-face block/cavity wall construction was selected to minimize building maintenance. The color and banding block pattern of the exterior respect and complement the existing three-story classroom wing. The challenge of integrating a non-stacked spatial program coupled with a modular-steel skeletal structure was solved by window groupings on the courtyard and southwest exposure. The unit ventilator grilles are the only hint of the programmatic dispersal of spaces.