Northville High School

Northville, Michigan

Firm

Fanning Howey

Client

Northville Public Schools

Area

362,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$42,423,285

Completion Date

09/2000

Northville High School is a 360,000-square-foot building accommodating 1,800 students, with potential expansion to 2,200 students.
The building features a 2,000-seat auditorium with theater-quality sound and a glass curtainwall. The performing-arts space includes a catwalk system, flyloft, recessed orchestra pit, dressing and makeup rooms, and a scene shop.
A Main Street corridor, connecting the auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria/student commons, pool and auxiliary gymnasium, is a highlight of the building.
The flexible academic wing has classrooms separated by a workroom and shared book-storage rooms. Natural light was optimized throughout the building.
The use of dual structural systems helped trim the construction schedule by six months. The district also sought to minimize long-term operations and maintenance costs, and the school features a heat-recovery system with a customized total energy heat-recovery wheel.
In reference to the historic community setting, the masonry exterior includes a clock tower at the main plaza entrance, and cupolas that mask mechanical and air-handling units.