Duarte High School
Duarte, Calif.
Osborn Architects

A mid-century high school receives a face-lift creating quiet and clarity

© Benny Chan

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Located near the roar of the Foothill Freeway and surrounded by large-scale car dealership signs, the campus of Duarte High School began construction in the early 1960s and has slowly grown in a piecemeal fashion. This renovation seeks to knit together these fragmented spaces and buildings, creating a contextual identity for the institution while mitigating the noise of the freeway.

Several major and minor interventions provide new interior and exterior spaces, while retaining and restoring the original concrete structural skeleton. A new entry canopy creates the needed visual impact of a front door, and an oversized school sign negotiates the scale of the freeway with that of the campus. Anchoring the entry canopy, the administration building engages its existing concrete predecessor, using steel, concrete, glass, and plaster to envelop the frame. New offices, a conference area, student store, and other administrative spaces occupy this structure.

A series of sound corridors, improving circulation and dampening freeway noise, unify the campus further. These feature translucent fiberglass panels that filter natural light through to the adjacent classrooms. Finally, the updated library shows a consideration for both sound and light. Stripped to its steel structure, the arching plan boasts a higher acoustical ceiling and clerestory windows. Similar windows light a formerly underused interior court, now a study room offering views into the campus. An entry volume announces its prominence in the campus plan, while improving access and sound isolation.

With these additions, the school reconciles its aggregate campus plan, meeting programmatic demands with careful attention to sound, light, and visual identity.

Location:
Duarte, Calif.

Gross square footage:
84,600 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$12 million

Owner:
Duarte Unified School District

Architect:
Osborn Architects
320 East Harvard Street
Glendale, CA 91205-1019
Tel: 818 246-3112
Fax: 818 246-3567
www.osborn-arch.com