The new Saugus Middle/High School, which opened last September, will bring together of 1,300 students in a STEAM-driven complex outfitted for exploratory learning and innovation. The school is anchored by three building pods comprising a four-story high school wing, a three-story middle school wing, and a central connecting pod with shared community spaces.
Built on a 22-acre site adjacent to the old high school, students enter the 269,000-sf building onto the school’s “main street,” a central circulation route connecting public spaces within the school. This circulation route serves as a link between the 750-seat auditorium, cafeteria, gym, and Starbucks-style student cafe.
The school hosts grades six through twelve and separates the distinct middle and high school academic zones by the shared core spaces. Eighth and ninth graders share the same floor to ease the transition from middle into high school. Grade-level classroom pods establish small learning communities that are lit with natural light via large lightwells. Windows look into a multi-level lightwell to provide a visual connection between grade levels in order to foster a sense of shared space and experience. Students across all grades have access to maker spaces and tech shops such as a woodshed, a broadcast studio, and coding and web-aided design labs.
Classrooms were designed with flexibility in mind. They are 800 sf, 350 sf larger than a standard classroom space, to allow for easy adaptation and future flexibility. The building’s furniture and equipment can be quickly rearranged in response to specific project or group needs.
Each of the building’s three learning pods is characterized by one of Saugus’s vital industries: iron, ice, and lobstering. Each pod contains a custom mural communicating the story of its industry through a graphic lens. The history of each industry also informed color choices and materiality.
The high school space is illuminated by a large, sweeping lightwell that pays homage to 1600s ironwork technology. The overall form of the lightwell through which the shaft directs light draws inspiration from the Saugus Iron Works blast furnaces.
In addition to HMFH, the build team also included Suffolk Construction as the construction manager.
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Jul 1, 2024
New guidelines for securing schools and community spaces released by the Door Security and Safety Foundation
The Door Security and Safety Foundation (DSSF), in collaboration with Door and Hardware Institute (DHI), recently released of “Are Your Door Openings Secure?.” The document provides guidelines to equip school administrators, building management personnel, and community leaders with a clear roadmap to create a secure and safe environment.
University Buildings | Jun 28, 2024
The American University in Cairo launches a 270,000-sf expansion of its campus in New Cairo, Egypt
In New Cairo, Egypt, The American University in Cairo (AUC) has broken ground on a roughly 270,000-sf expansion of its campus. The project encompasses two new buildings intended to enhance the physical campus and support AUC’s mission to provide top-tier education and research.
University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024
UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies
The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.
Education Facilities | Jun 6, 2024
Studio Gang designs agricultural education center for the New York City Housing Authority
Earlier this month, the City of New York broke ground on the new $18.2 million Marlboro Agricultural Education Center (MAEC) at the New York City Housing Authority’s Marlboro Houses in Brooklyn. In line with the mission of its nonprofit operator, The Campaign Against Hunger, MAEC aims to strengthen food autonomy and security in underserved neighborhoods. MAEC will provide Marlboro Houses with diverse, community-oriented programs.
Mass Timber | May 31, 2024
Mass timber a big part of Western Washington University’s net-zero ambitions
Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science. As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.
University Buildings | May 30, 2024
Washington University School of Medicine opens one of the world’s largest neuroscience research buildings
In St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation District, Washington University School of Medicine recently opened its new Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building. Designed by CannonDesign and Perkins&Will, the 11-story, 609,000-sf facility is one of the largest neuroscience buildings in the world.
K-12 Schools | May 15, 2024
A new Alabama high school supports hands-on, collaborative, and diverse learning
In Gulf Shores, a city on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, a new $137 million high school broke ground in late April and is expected to open in the fall of 2026. Designed by DLR Group and Goodwyn Mills Cawood, the 287,000-sf Gulf Shores High School will offer cutting-edge facilities and hands-on learning opportunities.
University Buildings | May 10, 2024
UNC Chapel Hill’s new medical education building offers seminar rooms and midsize classrooms—and notably, no lecture halls
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has unveiled a new medical education building, Roper Hall. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) and Flad Architects, the UNC School of Medicine’s new building intends to train new generations of physicians through dynamic and active modes of learning.
K-12 Schools | May 7, 2024
World's first K-12 school to achieve both LEED for Schools Platinum and WELL Platinum
A new K-12 school in Washington, D.C., is the first school in the world to achieve both LEED for Schools Platinum and WELL Platinum, according to its architect, Perkins Eastman. The John Lewis Elementary School is also the first school in the District of Columbia designed to achieve net-zero energy (NZE).
K-12 Schools | Apr 30, 2024
Fully electric Oregon elementary school aims for resilience with microgrid design
The River Grove Elementary School in Oregon was designed for net-zero carbon and resiliency to seismic events, storms, and wildfire. The roughly 82,000-sf school in a Portland suburb will feature a microgrid—a small-scale power grid that operates independently from the area’s electric grid.