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by Laurian Ghinitoiu |
The heights creates new landscapes for learning.
Designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and
Executive Architect LEO A DALY, The Heights building opens as a
cascade of green terraces fanning from a central axis,
addressing the academic needs of Arlington’s two county-wide
school programs while forming a vertical community within its
dense urban context.
Located along Arlington’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, The Heights
merges two existing secondary schools – the H-B Woodlawn Program
and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program – into a new 180,000sf
building to accommodate an expected enrollment of up to 775
students. BIG and LEO A DALY were commissioned in 2015 and
worked closely with Arlington Public Schools (APS), WRAP (West
Rosslyn Area Plan) and the Arlington community to design
state-of-the-art educational facilities that support both H-B
Woodlawn’s visual and performing arts-focused curricula and
Shriver’s extensive resources for students with specialized
educational needs. The Heights is currently on track to achieve
LEED Gold.
Situated within a compact urban site bounded by roads on three
sides and a portion of Rosslyn Highlands Park, The Heights is
conceived as a stack of five rectangular floorplates that rotate
around a fixed pivot point, maintaining the community feeling
and spatial efficiencies of a one-story school. Green terraces
above each floor become an extension of the classroom, creating
an indoor-outdoor learning landscape for both students and
teachers — an educational oasis rather than a traditional school
setting.
“The density of the urban Arlington neighborhood became the
inspiration for the school – we fanned the classrooms to allow
each and every floor to be connected to the roof garden on top
of the classrooms below. The resultant cascading terraces are
connected by a curving stair that weaves through all levels –
inside as well as outside – making all students, from both
programs and all ages, visually and physically connected to each
other. Each terrace is landscaped to lend itself not just to the
social life of the students but also as informal outdoor spaces
for learning.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Creative Director, BIG.
A rotating central staircase cuts through the interior of the
building to connect the four-tiered terraces, allowing students
to circulate outside and forge a stronger bond between the
neighborhood and the school. While the upper terraces are more
suitable for intimate classes and quiet study areas, the
spacious first terrace and 18,700sf recreation field also serve
as public event venues for school-wide and neighborhood
activities.
“The Heights extends the educational experience outdoors,
transforming terraces into a space where learning and playing
can flourish. From every floor, students and teachers can
immediately connect with nature and the surrounding neighborhood,
creating a 21st century school as well as a space for
Arlington’s children, parents, teachers and neighbors to gather.”
Daniel Sundlin, Partner, BIG.
From Wilson Boulevard, students, teachers and staff are greeted
by a triple-height lobby with stepped seating that double as an
indoor gathering space for both student assemblies and public
gatherings. Many of the school’s common spaces, including the
400-seat auditorium, main gymnasium, library, reception and
cafeteria, are centrally located and directly adjacent to the
lobby.
Easy accessibility to the community-oriented programs hosted in
the school encourages public interaction throughout the building,
creating a welcoming environment while heightening the visual
connectivity between the shared spaces. Other specialized
student spaces include an art studio, science and robotic labs,
music rehearsal rooms and two performing arts theaters.
“Underneath the canopy of fanning classrooms, a giant cave holds
spaces for all the communal spaces – the theatre, the sports
hall, library and canteen – creating a multitude of spaces where
students can linger for fun or for study – on their own or in
groups. Glass walls open up views between the different
activities, making it a three-dimensional composition of all
aspects of learning and living in the school.” Bjarke Ingels,
BIG.
The classroom bars serve as the primary organizing elements,
surrounding a central vertical core that contains the elevators,
stairs and bathrooms. As students enter from the central
staircase, they are greeted by an expanded gradient of the color
spectrum: each classroom bar is defined by its own color,
combining intuitive wayfinding with a vibrant social atmosphere
from the ground to the sky.
The Shriver Program providing special education for students
aged 11 to 22 occupy two floors of the building accessible from
the ground floor, and have specialized spaces dedicated to
support APS’ Functional Life Skills program as well as privacy
and ease of accessibility: the gymnasium, courtyard,
occupational physical therapy suite and sensory cottage are
designed to aid in sensory processing.
The Heights’ exterior is materialized in a graceful white glazed
brick to unify the five volumes and highlight the oblique angles
of the fanning classroom bars, allowing the sculptural form, the
energy and the activity of the inside to take center stage. In
keeping the surrounding neighborhood and former Wilson School in
mind, the building’s material palette pays homage to the
historical architecture of Old Town Alexandria.
The Heights’ opening marks BIG’s fourth school to complete
within the last academic year, following the Isenberg School of
Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Glasir
Tórshavn College on the Faroe Islands and WeWork’s WeGrow in New
York.
FACTS
NAME: The Heights Building
SIZE: 180,000ft2 / 16,700m2
LOCATION: Arlington, Virginia, USA
CLIENT: Arlington Public Schools
DESIGN ARCHITECT: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
EXECUTIVE ARCHITECT: LEO A DALY
COLLABORATORS: Leo A Daly, Robert Silman Associates, Interface
Engineering, Gordon, Theatre Projects, Jaffe Holden,
Faithful+Gould, GHD, Hopkins Food Service, GeoConcepts, Haley
Aldrich, The Sextant Group, Tillotson Design Associates, EHT
Traceries, Lerch Bates, Sustainable Design Consulting
BIG – BJARKE INGELS GROUP
PARTNERS-IN-CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Daniel Sundlin, Beat Schenk,
Thomas Christoffersen
PROJECT MANAGERS: Aran Coakley, Sean Franklin
PROJECT LEADERS: Tony-Saba Shiber, Ji-young Yoon, Adam Sheraden
TEAM: Amina Blacksher, Anton Bashkaev, Benjamin Caldwell,
Bennett Gale, Benson Chien, Cadence Bayley, Cristian Lera, Daisy
Zhong, Deborah Campbell, Douglass Alligood, Elena Bresciani,
Elnaz Rafati, Evan Rawn, Francesca Portesine, Ibrahim Salman,
Jack Gamboa, Jan Leenknegt, Janice Rim, Jin Xin, Josiah Poland,
Julie Kaufman, Kam Chi Cheng, Ku Hun Chung, Margherita Gistri,
Maria Sole Bravo, Mark Rakhmanov, Mateusz Rek, Maureen Rahman,
Nicholas Potts, Pablo Costa, Ricardo Palma, Robyne Some, Romea
Muryn, Saecheol Oh, Seo Young Shin, Seth Byrum, Shu Zhao,
Sidonie Muller, Simon David, Tammy Teng, Terrence Chew,
Valentina Mele, Vincenzo Polsinelli, Zach Walters, Ziad Shehab