The new Gallatin High School in Bozeman, Mont., was designed around the concept of a town center to be a place where people come together for a variety of purposes aligned with creating a unified, supportive, interactive community.
Instead of spreading the 300,000-sf school across two levels, the team designed a more compact solution that combines stacked one-, two-, and three-story wings. This layout helps reduce travel distances from one side of the school to the other, creates opportunities for key spaces to make physical and visual connections to the commons, and enhances efficiency in the building’s footprint, systems, and energy use.
The commons were central to the school’s design. Here, students and staff can gather for assemblies, speakers, small group gatherings, and individual study time. A grand staircase offers a “wow” factor but is also highly functional and includes a coffee bar and a cafe tucked beneath.
The ideas of cross-pollination and discovery are infused throughout the design to create visibility into other learning areas to spur interest in trying something new. Wider hallways and an abundance of natural light support a learning environment that feels accessible.
The 70-acre site comprises athletic fields, a trail system, parking areas, a competition track, a softball fields, and tennis courts.
Build Team
Civil Engineer: TD&H Engineering
Structural Engineer: DCI Engineers
Acoustical Engineer: Big Sky Acoustics
Auditorium: Schuler Shook
Client name: Bozeman Public Schools
Related Stories
| Jul 1, 2014
Winning design by 3XN converts modernist bathhouse to university library
Danish firm 3XN's design wins competition for a new educational facility for Mälardalen University in Sweden, which will house a library, communal spaces, and offices for 4,500 students and staff.
| Jun 23, 2014
Gehry's 'glass sail' cultural center for Foundation Louis Vuitton set to open in October
Comissioned by Bernard Arnault, American legendary architect Frank Gehry's newest structure in Paris for Foundation Louis Vuitton will house eleven galleries and an auditorium for performing arts.
| Jun 20, 2014
HOK releases proposal for Obama Library and Museum Campus
Proposal would locate the library in Chicago's historic Bronzeville neighborhood, aiming for urban revitalization as well as Living Building certification.
| Jun 20, 2014
First look: Hive-like 'Learning Hub' to be built in Singapore
In a competition to design a "Learning Hub" for students at Nanyang University in Singapore, London-based firm Heatherwick studio has won with a rounded, hive-like design.
| Jun 18, 2014
Study shows walkable urbanism has positive economic impact
Walkable communities have a higher GDP, greater wealth, and higher percentages of college grads, according to a new study by George Washington University.
| Jun 18, 2014
Arup uses 3D printing to fabricate one-of-a-kind structural steel components
The firm's research shows that 3D printing has the potential to reduce costs, cut waste, and slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector.
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Zaha Hadid's 'gravity defying' Issam Fares Institute opens in Beirut
The design builds upon the institute’s mission as a catalyst and connector between AUB, researchers and the global community.
| Jun 12, 2014
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects' design selected for new UCSC facility
The planned site is a natural landscape among redwood trees with views over Monterey Bay, a site that the architects have called “one of the most beautiful they have ever worked on.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
