50% SCHEMATIC SITE & BUILDING MODEL

***Models and drawings are properties of the Design Team.

The Albuquerque firm of Fanning Bard Tatum Architects (FBT), headed by Susan Johnson, will lead the design and manage construction of SWHS. Working under Johnson, the Los Angeles office of Perkins + Will, will provide the basic footprint of SWHS. Specializing in education facilities, their particular expertise is in designing flexible spaces that have dual uses. “We strive to plan and design agile facilities so that they are responsive to changing needs over time,” said Vaughn. They begin from the key principle that design needs to accommodate flexibility and adapt to change in needs and uses. While the two architectural firms have distinctively different roles, they will work collaboratively in building the first high school of this caliber in the State.

The third partner in the design of SWHS is the Chicago firm of Healy Bender & Associates. “Previously engaged to assist with Albuquerque’s Northwest High School (NWHS) to be completed in 2007, Healy Bender will take into consideration their experience and knowledge gleaned from the NWHS project and apply it to the design of SWHS,” said Karen Alarid, director of Facilities Design + Construction for APS. “While the schools will be different, as they are serving different users, much of what we learned in designing NWHS is applicable to building the schools that follow.” Specialists in educational design, they are nationally respected for their applied “thought process” regarding how to build a school. Healy Bender will serve as the data collection arm of the design effort, compiling the seemingly endless demographics in piecing together the entire picture of what the school will be. This includes conducting exhaustive interviews with students, teachers, and others regarding curriculum, schedules, athletics, special interests such as band or drama, clubs, and social needs. While they will make the most of the continuity they created in working on the NWHS project, the unique demographics of the SWHS community presents new design goals. “Our job is thoughtful – fun,” said Mike Griebel of Healy Bender. “We’re helping people uncover their own views and feelings.”