Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington is one of the largest high schools in the Spokane Public School District, with almost 1,700 students. Recently it was replaced and modernized, condensing 20 buildings on the original 1963 campus to one 265,000 square foot two-story building housing 85 classrooms, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium that seats 1,775 people under one roof.
Fielding input from students, teachers, parents, alumni, and the surrounding community, NAC Architecture designed the new school to have an open campus feeling, with four teaching wings radiating from a curved corridor. The wings create intermediate courtyards that are configured to preserve old-growth pine trees, providing shortcuts between wings, and allowing natural light into all teaching spaces.
Other features of the project include the use of low-E glass that has a thin film that reflects long-wave infrared energy, and steel extensions for shade. Both of these features help to keep the school cool during Spokane’s hot weather.
NAC chose face brick and concrete masonry units from Mutual Materials to serve as the building envelope. Mixing the dark tones of Mauna Loa and the reddish-browns of Chestnut, the 8×8 brick veneer provides a unique color contrast throughout the field. Adding to the contrast are split-face and ground face Castle White concrete masonry units used around the base of the school along with a couple of wall veneers.
Winner of a Northwest Concrete Masonry Association (NWCMA) awards for concrete masonry design, Garco Construction was the general contractor for the $60 million modernization, while Spilker Masonry was the masonry contractor, and Bernardo-Wills was the landscape architect.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our face brick or concrete masonry units can help bring your design to reality, call us today at 1-888-688-8250 to speak with an architectural sales representative.
Citations:
- Ferris High School
- City of Spokane, Washington
- Spokane Public Schools
- Mutual Materials
- Mutual Materials – Face Brick
- Mutual Materials – Concrete Masonry Units
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