The West Academic Hub aims to create a densely integrated campus combining West HS and Briggs HS onto the existing West HS site and moving Westmoor MS onto this same site. The importance of preserving and showcasing the existing West HS building is paramount in our design that aims to establish a visual connection and prominent axial relationship between the high school and Broad St to the north of the site. In our scenario, we obtain the Buckeye Ranch lot and use this street frontage to develop a publicly accessible plaza adjacent to our middle school while also providing children with a defined MS greenspace delineated by a pick-up/drop-off service road. All academic building circulation is focused internally to the site with parking relegated to the periphery to emphasize the axial pedestrian procession from north to south. This bustling “mini campus” utilizes the bisecting Olive Street as a central node of student circulation. Techniques such as uneven and multi-colored cobblestone paving are used for traffic calming and mitigating potential hazards between pedestrians and vehicles. The ceremonial field to the south of the site is imagined as a naturalized reconstruction of what existed there before: stands and a track & field. The terraced earthwork can be utilized for school events such as assemblies, pep rallies, and graduation while also being able to be utilized by the surrounding neighborhoods. Stormwater runoff is also discerned and mitigated through the implementation of a stormwater retention pond in the south carrying runoff water from west to east based on existing and modified grades.
