Sarasota High School, Paul Rudolph Classroom Building Modernization

Built in 1959, the Sarasota High School Paul Rudolph Classroom Building features an exterior mid-century modernist design that is celebrated both locally and internationally. Harvard Jolly Architecture and its design team modernized the building to meet the diverse needs of multiple stakeholders. Interested parties ranged from students and educators to Sarasota citizens, preservationists and local architectural foundations.
The school board’s requirements included enhancing campus safety, providing a modern learning environment, and creating a new front-door image for the campus. To achieve a consensus from all stakeholders, the design team held multiple community charrettes to incorporate input and devise a plan that marries the needs of current and future students and the beloved architectural centerpiece of the overall campus.
Open-air breezeways were preserved, and entryway stairs were faithfully reconstructed with enhanced safety measures that create an attractive, secure single point of entry for the entire campus. Technology in state-of-the-art laboratories and common learning areas enrich the learning experience for students and teachers. Extensive research resulted in a careful balance between aesthetics and performance characteristics of the exterior upgrades that meet both rigorous building codes and specific school district design guidelines.

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