Gresham High School

Location
Gresham, Oregon

Dates
2017-2018

Size
275,000 SF

Client
Gresham-Barlow School District

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Architectural Teammates
Richard Higgins (principle)
Kai Bierig (architect)
Amber Swanson (architect)
Nick Turrel (architectural designer)
Emilie La Garf (interior designer)

Project Manager
Cornerstone Management Group

General Contractor
Fortis Construction

Structural Engineer
KPFF

Project Summary:

Gresham High School was a milestone project in my career. The project was part of a notable school bond passed to revitalize the schools in Gresham-Barlow district. A significant portion of the bond was routed to Gresham High, a school built in the 1940s. The building had become out-dated not only for the education curriculum, but also for the student body population. Several of the classes were being taught outside of the school building in classroom trailers. The construction of a new school building would cater to the school’s current and future needs, and utilize the best practices of today’s educational design to create and effective, flexible, and safe learning environment.

As a key member of the design team, I relentlessly explored the layout of programmatic elements and the building’s exterior design. It was a rather difficult project. The building was large and complex, there was a meticulous building program to meet, it would be built in three phases, and would involve demolishing most of the high school’s existing building and reconnecting to a portion of it. Yet, the most difficult part was designing a major city high school which would address each of the many stakeholders in the project. We worked tirelessly to engage students, parents, teachers, administrators, security guards, custodial staff, city planners, and building officials. In the process, we were constantly refining the design to best meet the needs and desires of each group.

I was involved in the project from schematic design through the end of construction documents. At 275,000 square feet, it is the largest project I’ve worked on to date. During my involvement, I soaked in much about managing a large project, coordinating with contractors and other disciplines, and the technical knowledge which goes into successfully executing a project of such scale. The entire design and documentation process was done in the period of about 12 months. It was both an exhausting and rewarding time in my life. I learned many lessons about design and how a building is put together in this project which I have carried forth with me in my career.