Monterey High School wanted to expand their science department to created new, dedicated classroom to support their burgeoning advanced chemistry and biotechnology programs. The high school is located on a sloped hillside, offering minimal space for any expansion while the existing campus has limited areas for outdoor student space. CAW Architects creatively replaced an un-used art classroom with a new two-story building that cuts into the sloped hillside. The program stacks three new science classrooms above a shared innovation laboratory space, all which link with the existing science building, forming a single complex. The upper classrooms are outfitted with fume hoods, biotechnology equipment, all within a flexible lab environment. The lower level innovation center has sliding glass walls that open to outdoor learning spaces and student gathering areas so the space can function as classroom, demonstration lab, and assembly space, to provide the school with a highly flexible space. The outdoor areas create new terraced plazas and gathering areas, all which nearly double the usable plaza space on the campus. The school principal has noted, “…through this one new building, our entire campus will be revitalized with a greater sense of community.”
