For juniors and seniors of the Natrona County School System in Casper, Wyo., the Pathways Innovation Center, a newly built high school, offers a 38-acre campus comprising four academies focused on multiple disciplines to help students explore possible career paths. The beating heart of the Pathways Innovation Center is Fabrication Hall, a 5,000-sf common space flanked on all sides by technology-focused labs. The two-story hall was inspired by private sector facilities, such as Boeing’s complex in Washington state, that house their engineering and design teams under one roof.
The hall offers bountiful natural light with enough space to build large-scale projects. Included in the hall are 16-foot-high, custom-fabricated glass bay doors that fully open to the outside. In order to inspire collaboration, the hall, and the activities taking place within it, can be viewed from surrounding glass-walled design spaces. A “floating blue box” is used for informal learning and overlooks the hall.
By having a common space for a variety of disciplines—construction, woodworking, metals, welding, robotics, arts, furniture making—students learn cross-collaboration.
“It’s an incubator for prototyping,” says Scott Krenner, Design Lead, Education, with Cuningham Group, which designed the school in conjunction with MOA Architecture. Also on the team: Martin/Martin (SE), Engineering Design Associates (MEP), Civil Engineering Professionals (CE), D.L. Adams (acoustics), and Groathouse Construction (GC).
Photo courtesy of Cuningham Group.
Photo courtesy of Cuningham Group.
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Nov 10, 2015
New York City opens SOM-designed net-zero school
The Kathleen Grimm School for Leadership and Sustainability at Sandy Ground will produce 662,500 kWh of energy, which will offset the amount of energy it consumes.
Designers | Sep 21, 2015
Can STEAM power the disruptive change needed in education?
Companies need entrepreneurial and creative workers that possess critical thinking skills that allow them to function in collaborative teams. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education might be the solution.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR GIANTS: To succeed, school design must replicate real-world environments
Whether new or reconstructed, schools must meet new demands that emanate from the real world and rapidly adapt to different instructional and learning modes, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Contractors | Jul 29, 2015
Consensus Construction Forecast: Double-digit growth expected for commercial sector in 2015, 2016
Despite the adverse weather conditions that curtailed design and construction activity in the first quarter of the year, the overall construction market has performed extremely well to date, according to AIA's latest Consensus Construction Forecast.
K-12 Schools | Jun 30, 2015
San Diego charter school finds home in existing public library building
The school is located on the sixth and seventh floors of a downtown public library and embraces flexible school days, internship opportunities, and project-based learning.
Codes and Standards | Jun 18, 2015
New document addresses school safety and security
In an effort to balance security and fire safety features within codes, standards and planning, NFPA hosted a two-day workshop, “School Safety, Codes and Security”, last December. The findings are now available in an NFPA report.
K-12 Schools | May 12, 2015
Bjarke Ingels completes Danish high school sports and arts expansion
By placing parts of the new building beneath the football fields, the students are able to walk through the sunken sports hall at the center of the school´s courtyard to the classrooms, cafeteria, and out to the main entrance at street level.
Sponsored | | May 11, 2015
Fire-rated glass separation helps merge new and old pools into a single connected aquatics center
Clear fire-rated glazing helps create a light-filled, safe space for student athletes and spectators in Niles, Illinois.
K-12 Schools | Apr 28, 2015
How to create an environment where students want to succeed
According to a 2014 Gallup poll, our school system not only kills children’s creativity, but also takes its toll on their motivation, writes Perkins+Will's Tinka Rogic.
K-12 Schools | Mar 22, 2015
Budget woes may lead to moratorium on school projects in Alaska
The bill would suspend 70% cost reimbursement from state to localities.
