Highland Park High School, Science Addition

Highland Park, Illinois

Firm

Legat Architects

Client

Township High School District 113

Area

58,700 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$10,200,000

Completion Date

08/2002

In 2001, Highland Park High School looked like an unraveled rope from St. John Street. Although brick and limestone gave it a sense of history and tradition, the existing campus split into bits and pieces.
The addition includes three sets of “twin science lab” volumes that curve down St. John Street like keys on a piano. A curved brick volume with limestone accents ends “the musical phrase.” Tying together the composition, a glass-enclosed corridor links all the labs and bursts out of the side of the final volume. Landscaped courtyards sit between each set of volumes.
The material of the volumes alternates between red brick and concrete block to merge traditional and modern design. Like a 3-D hologram, the building’s appearance changes from different perspectives. People traveling north on St. John see the traditional brick structures with vertical windows. These volumes spoke out slightly further than their concrete partners. Those traveling south see the more modern concrete-block structures with thinner, L-shaped window strips.
The work also includes a new student entry, a new girls’ locker room, renovation of the mechanical infrastructure, landscaping improvements and additional upgrades.