BELLEVILLE WEST HIGH SCHOOL-DESIGN

The $55 million Belleville West High School project in Belleville, Illinois is one of the larger K-12 facilities for which Woolpert has provided full design services. The 2,400-student, 360,000-square-foot high school features the latest technologies in safety, security, computers and science.

Woolpert’s team also helped develop site evaluations, a preliminary budget and assisted with community presentations during the extensive pre-referendum phase.

The 113-acre project includes parking for 900 cars, six tennis courts, and a 2,500-seat athletic stadium with concession and maintenance buildings. In addition to 85 classrooms, seven computer labs and 11 science labs, the new campus includes:

• Rooftop horticulture greenhouse
• Music and Art Suites– three rooms each
• TV Studio
• Food Service Training Suite – six kitchen stations, a commercial kitchen and a demonstration kitchen and serving training room
• Physical Education and Competition Athletic Facilities
• Library/Media Center with a 30-seat computer lab
• 700-seat Auditorium
• 600-seat Student Commons
• Gymnasium with 3,400 seats, plus two mezzanine courts and an annex gym
• Seven shops and two classrooms for Technical/Trade/Industrial Arts

Each classroom was designed with an instructional desk and networked computer station, large instructional monitor, visual display boards and up to six computer stations.

Woolpert considers sustainable design essential to a project and selected components to enable efficiency of building operations and maintenance. The design maximizes natural light in classrooms and lobby areas. Built-in sun shading on the exterior of the building allows light in but minimizes solar impact. Analysis of life cycle costs for major equipment incorporated energy efficiency for mechanical systems.