Oracle Corporation’s Redwood Shores Headquarters is in the process of receiving a new addition the likes of which a tech company campus has never seen before; a high school.
Design Tech High School (d.tech) will be the first high school in the country located on a tech company’s campus. The 64,000-sf, two-story building has a fabrication lab designed as the heart of the new facility. The two-story lab, called the Design Realization Garage, will house heavy fabrication on the first floor and digital prototyping on the second floor. An internal elevator will move projects between the two spaces.
Modular learning neighborhoods are located on the east and west wings of the building and feature four interconnected classrooms that utilize movable partitions and furniture. Collaboration spaces are incorporated along the main circulation corridors of the building. These corridors, dubbed the California Corridors, provide unobstructed views of San Francisco Bay and the surrounding shoreline. Three enclosed outdoor spaces on the ground level and two rooftop decks provide outdoor settings for education.
Rendering courtesy of DES Architects + Engineers.
Oracle is providing the land and building the facility, but the school will be a fully autonomous public high school. The Oracle Conference Center and the main pedestrian promenade on campus connect directly to d.tech’s entrance. The Conference Center will provide a venue for the school’s large gatherings and performances. The existing Oracle kitchen will provide food for the students and the company’s fitness center will be utilized part-time for d.tech’s physical education programs.
As part of the project, existing community trails will be improved and new segments will be added to the San Francisco Bay Trail. Nearly two new acres of improved outdoor space will be available for the public.
Design Tech High School is targeting LEED for Schools Gold and is currently under construction. The DES Architects + Engineers-designed facility is scheduled to open in January 2018.
Related Stories
| May 18, 2011
One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation
The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.
| May 17, 2011
Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas
Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.
| May 16, 2011
USGBC and AIA unveil report for greening K-12 schools
The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.
| May 10, 2011
Greenest buildings: K-12 and commercial markets
Can you name the nation’s greenest K-12 school? How about the greenest commercial building? If you drew a blank, don’t worry because our friends at EarthTechling have all the information on those two projects. Check out the Hawai’i Preparatory Academy’s Energy Lab on the Big Island and Cascadia Green Building Council’s new Seattle headquarters.
| Mar 15, 2011
Passive Strategies for Building Healthy Schools, An AIA/CES Discovery Course
With the downturn in the economy and the crash in residential property values, school districts across the country that depend primarily on property tax revenue are struggling to make ends meet, while fulfilling the demand for classrooms and other facilities.
| Feb 23, 2011
“School of Tomorrow” student design competition winners selected
The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Kawneer Company, Inc. announced the winners of the “Schools of Tomorrow” student design competition. The Kawneer-sponsored competition, now in its fifth year, challenged students to learn about building materials, specifically architectural aluminum building products and systems in the design of a modern and creative school for students ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Ball State University’s Susan Butts was awarded first place and $2,500 for “Propel Elementary School.”
| Feb 15, 2011
LAUSD commissions innovative prefab prototypes for future building
The LA Unified School District, under the leadership of a new facilities director, reversed course regarding prototypes for its new schools and engaged architects to create compelling kit-of-parts schemes that are largely prefabricated.
| Feb 9, 2011
Gen7 eco-friendly modular classrooms are first to be CHPS verified
The first-ever Gen7 green classrooms, installed at Bolsa Knolls Middle School in Salinas, California, have become the nation's first modular classrooms to receive Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Verified recognition for New School Construction. They are only the second school in California to successfully complete the CHPS Verified review process.
| Dec 17, 2010
Alaskan village school gets a new home
Ayagina’ar Elitnaurvik, a new K-12 school serving the Lower Kuskikwim School District, is now open in Kongiganak, a remote Alaskan village of less than 400 residents. The 34,000-sf, 12-classroom facility replaces one that was threatened by river erosion.
| Dec 6, 2010
Honeywell survey
Rising energy costs and a tough economic climate have forced the nation’s school districts to defer facility maintenance and delay construction projects, but they have also encouraged districts to pursue green initiatives, according to Honeywell’s second annual “School Energy and Environment Survey.”
