York High School

Elmhurst, Illinois

Firm

Wight & Company

Client

Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205

Area

620,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$74,848,665

Completion Date

03/2004

Common spaces in this 600,000-square-foot high school are designed to serve several basic goals:
•Foster a feeling of permanence and history associated with the 80-year-old school.
•Provide visual relief and orientation within long corridor spaces.
•Give a sense of cohesiveness between diverse parts of the complex.
•Promote public recognition of excellent student work in many fields of endeavor.
The keystone space of the school is the student commons, enclosing two historic facades into an interior courtyard. With the outdoor feel of the original courtyard, the commons is at the crossroads of the school, connecting the cafeteria, student services, media center and both the academic and athletics/physical-education wings.
The burnished masonry in the commons is expressed throughout the corridors and stairways, in both new and renovated areas. Together with pier/kiosks, tackable walls and display cases, and finish materials and patterns, consistent motifs connect all areas of the complex. These same elements, as well as historical relics and symbols, serve to punctuate and modulate some otherwise long passageways and vistas.