CLIENT
Houston ISD

BUILDING AREA
288,358 sf

AWARDS
2009 Good Brick Award, Greater, Houston Preservation Alliance

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

With a landmark educational building dating back to 1926, Reagan High School was the largest project of HISD’s 2002 Bond Program. Design started with district and community engagement to identify a vision for a high school of the future that would be an asset to the community as well as an educational facility. Hundreds of people were involved in fundraising, planning, design, and construction.

Transforming Reagan involved renovations, replacement of numerous auxiliary buildings, new track/field, and new parking facilities. The new buildings respect the scale of the original building and reinterpret key details in a modern way. The internal courtyard commons was developed as the “heart of the campus” to unify the new structures with the historic building and to maximize opportunities for interaction and collegiality.

The site layout was carefully planned to mitigate traffic impact on the surrounding neighborhood, and we restored the building’s foreground and façade to its original grandeur. Recognizing that the modern high school serves many community and extracurricular activities, we built a unique relationship with hundreds of stakeholders and focus groups. The result was a place for students to learn and for parents and the community to partner with the school to support student success.