“Tom has done more than lead our studio—he’s given it a heart and soul,” said Nayak in a statement. “I’m humbled to build on such a strong foundation of design excellence and community impact. This studio truly cares about elevating the quality of life for our clients and our people through innovative design, and it’s an honor to lead the team forward into our new chapter.” Nayak and Reisenbichler have been working together closely for the last year to ensure a smooth transition.

“It’s an emotional decision for me to pass the baton, but it’s one I’m proud to make because we’ve found the right person,” said Reisenbichler, who will now focus on client relationships and key projects, in a statement. “Vandana embodies the bold, community-minded spirit we’ve cultivated since day one, and she’s exceptional at creating and maintaining a clear vision. I think she’s the ideal leader to keep our energy up and eyes on the future while nurturing this incredible pool of talent and delivering the caliber of work we’re known for.”

This leadership transition comes at a time of growing momentum for Perkins&Will in Dallas, having recently taken on the largest projects in the studio’s history: a multibillion-dollar pediatric hospital for Children’s Hospital and UT Southwestern Medical Center, the redesign of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, and the largest project on campus at the University of Texas at Dallas, a new Student Success Center/Student Union.

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Beginning with master planning in 2016 and continuing through intensive community and school district engagement – with thousands of contacts including meetings, surveys, and focus groups – global architecture and design firm and associate architect transformed two public high schools in Champaign, Ill., to support future-ready education. The designs for the schools, located four miles apart, combined renovation, additions, and reorganization. Flexible libraries/media centers, STEM/STEAM/Engineering Science facilities, project-based learning spaces, and versatile performance areas combine to meet ever-evolving educational needs.

The most extensive work was undertaken at Champaign Central High School, built in 1934 and located in an historic residential neighborhood. The renovation included a remodel of the existing structure, along with three separate additions totaling more than 317,000 square feet – and, responded to community interests in “Keeping Central Central” in the same location. The district purchased several contiguous properties across the street from the main campus, vacating two streets to achieve a consolidated cohesive campus. To unify the campus, a landscaped visitor parking lot with passive stormwater management and spacious athletic facilities were infilled adjacent to the original building, preserving the facade of the historic fieldhouse as an athletic entrance.

Renovations balanced the school’s imposing exterior with the addition of three contemporary additions and a new main entrance, doubling the size of the original building. Students now enter Champaign Central through the north entrance, distinct from staff and student parking, easing congestion and passing through a contemporary security sequence with a welcoming school identity. A 750-seat auditorium was added, classrooms modernized, energy-efficient windows installed throughout the school, and audio-visual and mechanical systems upgraded. The design provides enhanced opportunities to explore career paths such as welding, automotive technology and carpentry in new career and technical education spaces.

By taking advantage of outdoor spaces, the cafeteria and kitchen were relocated from the basement to the ground floor, opening into a light-filled commons and dining area closely connected to the rest of the school and with space for larger events. The new configuration provides room for a state-of-the-art Culinary Arts program linked to the dining area.

Athletic facilities were upgraded and, in some cases, reorganized. The basketball court’s wood floor was replaced, while recreating archival art deco graphics and paying homage to a long-time and beloved coach. The gym’s historic character with its blonde brick walls was maintained. The new north addition to the athletic facilities serves as an ICC-500 rated storm shelter, and includes a sunlight-drenched dance studio equipped with tornado-resistant windows. The new planning made room for a softball diamond, a soccer field, and a practice competitive marching band field.

At Centennial High School, built in 1967, the original façade presented a key challenge – large expanses of beige brick, with little natural light and a hard-to-locate front door. A new entrance with vertical, two-story glass windows matches the height of the building and floods the interior with natural light – enlivens the experience for both students and visitors.

Inside, new administrative offices, industrial arts facilities, and classrooms were added, maintaining the original brick styling. Students can now meet informally in two internal courtyards with sightlines from large windows into the labs, cafe, library, and interior collaboration spaces. Exterior bas relief panels from the 1960s were stabilized and provide colorful backdrop in the landscaped courtyards.

The design for both schools emphasizes sustainability, safety, and flexibility. Energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems and integrated natural light reflect the importance of adaptability. Resilient storm shelters with high-impact resistant glass meet ICC 500 requirements –tested to an impact rating ten times greater than Miami hurricane standards – ensuring student safety during severe weather events.

Mark Jolicoeur is a principal with Perkins&Will and has collaborated with both public and private educational institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally on various project types, including renovation, adaptive re-use and new construction.

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LONG BEACH, Calif.—Ground has broken at Cal State Long Beach for the new La Playa Residence Hall, a 108,000-square-foot student housing project from designer Perkins&Will and constructed by Swinerton. The $115 million project encompasses three five-story buildings surrounded by outdoor amenities such as dining commons, a welcome plaza and a shared lawn.  La Playa represents just one piece of the State of California’s Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program to increase the number of below-rate rental options for on-campus student housing.

Being built by Swinerton at the Hillside Housing village, La Playa Residence Hall will contain 424 beds in various dorm room configurations in single- and double-occupancy student rooms as well as faculty accommodations. The ground floor will offer a kitchen, and every floor will also include study areas and lounges. La Playa will also host a 2,000-square-foot multipurpose room and music practice rooms as well as additional offices for the school’s Counseling and Psychological Services program.

“We expanded on the village feel of the surrounding Hillside Housing community by dividing the project into three structures connected by bridges,” said Yan Krymsky, principal and design director at Perkins&Will’s Los Angeles studio. “This gives the project a more approachable scale and preserves open space on campus.”

David Damon, principal and global higher education practice leader at Perkins&Will, said that his firm’s design aesthetic focused on scale, identity and community.

“Each of these drivers strategically shaped the highly bespoke design concept for La Playa Residence Hall,” he said. “This makes the project truly unique compared to traditionally shaped residence halls. By increasing bed capacity and transforming the student experience, an intentionally informed framework, the University will absolutely differentiate itself when it comes to recruitment and retention.”

La Playa Residence Hall will aim to open for students in time for the fall semester of 2026.

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OMAHA, Neb.—Set in the rolling hills of Northwest Omaha, Westview High School, programmed and designed by the team of Perkins&Will and architect of record BCDM Architects, draws inspiration from the natural landscape and the interests of its community.

The simple beige brick and zinc palette of the exterior and its angular educational wings provide a contemporary, yet timeless quality, and the combination of space preparing students for college and career-readiness with a community YMCA sets Westview apart as one of the country’s most distinctive partnerships connecting a school to the broader community.

At Westview, a school, designed from the inside out, the focus is on the central communal spaces and shared experiences of the cafeteria, auditorium, media center, YMCA and gymnasium. The sense of community in these large gathering spaces at the heart of the school is balanced by respect for the small group student learning experience in an array of rooms and nooks that support many types of learning styles. The school is 285,000-square-feet, the YMCA, 30,000-square-feet.

Students and YMCA members enter Westview enter through two separate vestibules located next to each other at a common entry point for security reasons – students moving into a two-story lobby, YMCA members directly into the full-service facility. Arrangements were made early in the planning stage to coordinate access for Westview students to ensure that the YMCA truly is a shared, community facility. Classrooms and labs – key to the district’s focus on establishing career pathways – extend along the linear spines of the building with windows opening to natural light; central along the length of the spine, students can meet in a variety of spaces designed for collaboration.

Overlooking the two-story lobby, which is adjacent to student dining, is an open-concept library with communal space inside leading to a learning stair connecting the two spaces. Throughout the school, bathed in natural light, natural materials of wood and brick add patterning, texture, and rhythm – and a connection to its setting.

The partnership with the YMCA was central to Westview’s planning. While the high school maintains its own athletic facilities, the added efficiency, flexibility, and experiences of sharing a pool, weight room, and more is distinctive. “The Y and the public-school systems are the two largest youth development organizations in our county,” said Chris Tointon, former president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Omaha. “Rather than build one Y and one school and stick them together, we needed to define as many needs as possible and work towards 100% utilization, so we received the biggest benefits of a shared facility. Bringing school leaders, teachers, program directors, and frontline staff to the table early with a shared vision was critical to our success.”

Tointon sees additional benefits for students beyond athletics. “We felt like being connected to where the kids were allowed us to share leadership experiences. The programs could eventually be managed by the teens with mentorship by recreation and fitness professionals.”

Mindful of the region’s vulnerability to weather, the facility is designed to withstand extreme volatility. The black box theatre and locker rooms can double as storm shelters. Windows in those spaces are high-stress treated, and the walls, the roof, and pipes can withstand up to 250 mph winds and rain. Abundant daylight and shared space efficiency add to the school’s sustainability features.

Project Partners:

• Owner and/or developer: Omaha Public Schools
• Design architect: Perkins&Will
• Architect of record: BCDM Architects
• MEP engineer: Alvine Engineering, (civil Sampson Construction)
• Structural engineer: Performance Engineering
• General contractor or construction manager: Sampson Construction

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RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Things are certainly growing at the University of California, Riverside. Designer Perkins&Will and general contractor DPR Construction, along with personnel from UCR, recently gathered in celebration of a new state-of-the-art greenhouse and agricultural research building for UCR’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS).

This two-story, 30,000-square-foot greenhouse project will allow CNAS faculty and students to conduct growth studies and learn more about feeding an expanding population. Some of the early work undertaken there entails investigating how bees pollinate flowers in different environments as well as testing how rice can be made to be more resistant to floods and drought conditions that are only becoming more dire as the planet warms. Other research will be undertaken to examine how climate-control tech can be applied to serve various other agricultural needs.

The architectural design features a serrated concrete wall on the lower level that can help regulate shifts in internal temperature more naturally rather than relying on HVAC exclusively. The main level offers specific rooms for potting, growth chambers as well as breakrooms. The facility’s second level features 16 individual greenhouse modules that can be customized for specific studies and research.

“I’m thrilled about the amazing work being facilitated in the new CNAS Plant Research building,” said Jessica Orlando, associate principal and higher education practice leader at Perkins&Will Los Angeles. “Our team feels so privileged to have contributed to the delivery of a functional, high-performance building that also creates a stunning design that pays homage to UC Riverside’s rich campus fabric.”

Perkins&Will personnel took as inspiration for their design motif the nearby greenhouses, whose gables were reproduced in a new way for the upper glass roof of the Plant Research building. Meanwhile, the structure employs minimal use of concrete, glass and steel in a nod to more eco-conscious development. Furthermore, each upper-level greenhouse is wrapped in double-pane polarized glass, allowing observers to watch experimenters at work.

Climate control for each individual greenhouse module can be manipulated to simulate a variety of different weather settings and levels of humidity. A large evaporative cooling system works for the entire building, and researchers also can modulate the amount of natural light entering into each individual module.

“It was important for us to couple practical functionality and the aesthetic roots of the surrounding greenhouses with the college’s forward-looking spirit and focus on scientific innovation,” said August Miller, senior designer at Perkins&Will. “This ultimately translated to a series of greenhouse modules, each its own independent laboratory, at the upper level.”

Added Yan Krymsky, design director of Perkins&Will’s Los Angeles studio: “It’s really a machine, a tool for research. But beyond that, we wanted to create a structure that spoke to the legacy of the university.”

The CNAS sits on a part of the UCR campus formerly occupied by older greenhouses. In fact, the school originally started out as University of California Citrus Experiment Station in 1907, eventually changing to UCR.

Perkins&Will was founded in 1935 and employs over 2,000 people in 20 studios around the world. The firm’s Los Angeles studio is located in the heart of the historic downtown.

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SHREVEPORT, La.—Architect Perkins&Will’s Houston studio is under contract with Louisiana State University’s Shreveport campus to design an educational and advanced laboratory facility. Accordingly, the Center for Medical Education and the Center for Emerging Viral Threats (CEVT) will be located at LSU Health Shreveport, a major teaching hospital in the region. The two facilities will jointly address a dearth of healthcare in the Gulf region.

LSU Health Shreveport entails the School of Medicine, the School of Allied Health Professions and the School of Graduate Studies—and the construction project will allow students to study collectively at the new spaces. The research-centric Center for Medical Education is being designed by Perkins&Will alongside the neighboring Center for Emerging Viral Threats (CEVT), which will have a separate third-floor entrance but will be simultaneously accessible from the Center for Medical Education and the nearby School of Allied Health Professions. Both buildings were generated thanks to personnel at both Perkins&Will and Coleman Partners Architects—and collectively they represent the first new construction at LSU Health Shreveport in over a decade.

On the exterior, students and visitors will be greeted by a large superstructure that seems to fly above the entrance plaza. Once inside, the facility is to offer modern spaces that blend recreational and lecture spaces over multiple floors, alongside the traditional clinical experiment spaces and classrooms. Contemporary laboratories will be set up to focus on such specialties as bacteriology, clinical pathology, serology, media prep and cell culture.

The entire building will allow in natural sunlight via rather large windows. The building will also be host to a 500-seat in-the-round auditorium, as well as a 250-set “active learning” classroom replete with up-to-date AV capabilities. Amenities within will include a student wellness center, fitness class areas, meditation spaces as well as spaces devoted to healthy cooking classes.

Lemoine, based in Alabama but operating from several offices in Louisiana, will serve as the project’s general contractor. Lemoine is working with Perkins&Will to coordinate buildout of safe spaces designed for biocontainment, which is especially important when working with potentially dangerous pathogens.

In a statement to Â鶹¸ŁŔűÍř, Andrew Brown, senior project architect from the Houston studio of Perkins&Will, said that a key aspect of the project will be to fashion a “major destination” at LSU Shreveport as well as update the campus for 21st century medical education.

“The Center for Medical Education and Wellness will be a link between several educational buildings and really helps to stitch a student-centric seam through the campus,” Brown said, adding that the feedback from students and the larger academic community on design renderings has been overwhelmingly positive. “Our team was very focused on bringing the latest best practice design solutions for medical education, learning, and research so that this facility could serve to enhance health outcomes in the local community and beyond. I am excited to see it occupied, and believe people will be surprised with how much this facility supports collaboration and interaction amongst the students and faculty.”

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SAN MARCOS, Tex.—Design firm Perkins&Will has completed work on expanding the Miller Middle School, located approximately halfway between the Texas capital of Austin and San Antonio.

Perkins&Will was charged with renovating nearly 40,000 square feet of the older school’s space, while at the same time adding 37,000 square feet of new space to the Miller Middle School so that it can meet its goals of educating students in both sciences and the arts.

Miller Middle School’s renovations and addition were both designed by Perkins&Will’s Austin office to be an efficient educational space that allows students to be engaged in their learning, while at the same time promoting inclusiveness across the district. The design also features elements meant to foster interaction, such as outdoor spaces that can be utilized as additional educational space during the Lone Star Star’s rather lengthy warm season.

Additionally, the library features a glass-enclosed prism that can also be seen from the outside. As per the design plans, this great prism represents a fusion of the school’s goals for expanding their study body’s exposure to arts and science simultaneously—with students being able to not only appreciate its beauty but also its mathematical and geometrical properties. Furthermore, the library is meant to act as a central hub for the school, such that students and faculty utilize it as the “center” of their learning environment—and from there head out to various classrooms, performing arts spaces and laboratories.

As students make their way out of the central library area, they are guided to their various classrooms thanks to colorful accents in cyan, magenta and yellow. The colors correspond to specific grade levels and thus help students to find their way around, especially as they learn to navigate this new space.

Perkins&Will worked at Miller Middle School with general contractor Webber Commercial, LLC, which is based out of The Woodlands, Texas. Construction commenced in November 2019. Most of the work at the site was completed last fall, but the contracting work continued up until March of this year.

“Placing the addition in front of the existing building created an opportunity to modulate the first impression and create a new architectural expression without impacting the circulation of the site,” Lynn Petermann, senior project architect and senior associate at Perkins&Will, said in a statement emailed to Â鶹¸ŁŔűÍř. “The addition emphasizes the library becoming the central hub, creating a seamless flow of space to the surrounding classrooms, labs, and performing arts space accessible from the library’s upper level.

“Drawing inspiration from higher education facilities, the design team transformed the school to suit older students.”

Perkins&Will’s other Texas-based educational work includes Rodriguez Elementary School in San Marcos and the Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy in DeSoto. Webber Commercial’s other Lone Star State school projects include work for the Liberty Independent School District.

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BELMONT, Mass.—On Friday, March 4, construction and development firm, Skanska, together with the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee (BMHSBC), the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), and student representatives from Belmont Middle and High School, celebrated the topping out for Belmont Middle School. The design firm for the project is Perkins+Will.

Once completed in September, 2023, the brand-new Middle School will be an approximately 170,000-square-foot school building featuring dedicated classroom, recreation and administrative space. The Belmont Middle and High School buildings will share major facilities located in the High School, including the kitchen and café, auditorium, pool and Field House. The construction milestone marks a significant step forward in the progress for phase two, and the overall completion, of the transformative school project.

“At Skanska we pride ourselves on building what matters, and it’s especially rewarding to be celebrating this exciting milestone in person with the students and school representatives who will soon be learning and teaching out of the new buildings,” said Bryan Northrop, Executive Vice President of Skanska USA Building in Boston. “We look forward to delivering Belmont Middle School and completing the full school project so that future generations of Belmont students have a first-class environment in which they can receive an education and be inspired.”

Belmont school officials, students and local community members in attendance on Friday heard a short speaking program featuring Belmont High School Principal, Isaac Taylor; School Committee Chair Amy Checkoway; MSBA Chief Operating Officer, James MacDonald; Belmont Grades 7 & 8 Principal, Karla Koza; and Skanska Building Superintendent, Manny Hoyo. Attendees also enjoyed a performance of the National Anthem by the Belmont High School Marching Band before signing the symbolic final beam for the Middle School, representing the last structural component of the entire Belmont Middle and High School project. The in-person celebration was a welcome change from the virtual event that took place nearly two years ago when the High School building topped out in May 2020 during phase one of construction.

“Watching the final beam being raised over the Middle School signifying such an important milestone means so much to our students, school staff and the entire Belmont community,” said Bill Lovallo, Chair of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee. “We are thrilled to be one step closer to enjoying our beautiful new school building which will serve as a cornerstone for the community for many years to come.”

Phase one of construction at Belmont Middle and High School centered on the delivery of Belmont High School, a four-floor, 451,000-square-foot building for grades 7-12 which Skanska renovated and expanded to include new academic and science wings, media and dining areas, administrative health suites, and updates to the existing gymnasium and pool. The High School building was completed in September 2021 in time for the new school year.

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ST. LOUIS—Despite the challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic, construction of Washington University’s new neuroscience research facilities is continuing. According to a, the $616 million, 11-story research facility at the university’s School of Medicine that commenced in the spring of 2020 is still aiming for a summer 2023 debut.

The building will be home for nearly a thousand researchers across 600,000 square feet of space. The university report said that the interior of the building will be built around various research specialties, whether it’s neurogenetics, sleep study or addiction.

McCarthy Building Companies is working on the project as general contractor in conjunction with designers Perkins+Will and CannonDesign.

The construction has continued with protocols meant to head off transmission of the virus. These measures include masking and daily health screenings at the jobsite.

The next steps, according to the university, entail building a parking garage for nearly 2,000 cars and a pedestrian bridge between the garage with the nearby St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Despite the lengthy supply chain issues and labor shortages that have affected most sectors—not just construction—the project remains on schedule to hit the summer 2023 target, the university said. This is largely due to extensive planning for the facility in the years leading up to construction.

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DALLAS—Melissa High School in Texas has wrapped a substantial renovation and expansion that includes a stellar new performing arts complex.

Architectural firm Perkins&Will was chosen by the Melissa Independent School District, which is located in Dallas’s far northeastern suburbs, to design the expansion of the high school’s campus and add to its amenities with a new arts facility. Perkins&Will’s Dallas-based design studio’s mission was to update the cultural and fine arts programs offered at the school, including designing a new theater complex that would fit in with the college’s overall design.

The 65,000-square-foot project includes a lobby, entryway and brand-new 1,000-seat auditorium. The complex also includes scene shops, halls for making live recordings, rehearsal spaces, classrooms and backstage areas to support the productions.

The goal of the design was to meld the new building’s design seamlessly so that it maintains the previous aesthetic of the existing buildings. Accordingly, the auditorium building features an elevated portico that melds with a “garden zone” populated by native plants. The garden zone meets with the main lobby entrance while also allowing for overflow should events require additional outdoor seating for lectures and performances taking place at the lobby level.

As a person approaches the auditorium building, he or she ambles along a promenade, and the eye is naturally drawn upwards to behold design elements. A “relief and shadow” motif is established by the brick-laying pattern, which is meant to make the building itself feel more approachable.

As the visitor enters the lobby, the metal-slatted ceiling appears to emanate from the exterior canopies that Perkins&Will has fashioned. Glazing along the eastern wall provides a welcoming aesthetic element, and serves to draw students, staff and visitors alike into the educational setting.

Other lobby design elements include faceted gypsum planes meant to mimic the naturally flowing fabric of a stage curtain. Stairwells of the performance space are dressed in white oak wood harvested from nearby in northern Texas. The performance hall also features textured walls whose elements are exaggerated such that they refract sound within the space for optimal enjoyment.

The general contractor for the project was Crossland Construction, whose office near the jobsite is in Prospect, Texas.

In a statement to Â鶹¸ŁŔűÍř, Vandana Nayak, principal at Perkins&Will Dallas, said that the brick and glass exterior elements give the building “a stately presence.”

“Melissa ISD sought to create a state-of-the-art fine arts center that accommodates practice and performance, and allows the district to host UIL (University Interscholastic League) competitions for various programs,” Nayak said. “We designed an acoustically flexible, multipurpose facility that supports visual arts, theatre, band, and choir programs. We created a stunning visual effect through sculpted walls that wrap the interiors of the performance hall with an abstract expression inspired by the folds of the fabric on stage.”

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