Stadium High School
stadium high school
Tacoma, Washington
Client
Tacoma Public Schools
architect of record
Krei Architects
size
297,000 sf
year
2006
Awards
2007 State Historic Preservation Office, Valerie Sivinski Award for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation Rehabilitation
Honored with the Valerie Sivinski Award, the State of Washington’s highest honor in historic preservation, Stadium High School demonstrates Bassetti’s experience with the revitalization of landmark buildings as important contributors to urban context and places for 21st century learning.
The school’s extraordinary campus includes a rehabilitated landmark ‘castle,’ originally built as a hotel in 1890 and converted to a high school in 1904. The renovated campus features a new performing arts and athletic center, a multi-school stadium and field, and a new 200-stall parking structure topped with tennis courts. The renovation included complete seismic, life safety, mechanical, electrical, ADA, and technology upgrades.
Exhaustive research combined with careful design allowed for preservation and restoration of numerous defining characteristics of the historic building, with new additions housing large program areas that did not fit in the original structure. Critical to the design was the physical separation of the addition from the landmark. A central plaza unites the two buildings and the addition complements and reflects the beloved landmark building in its materials and fenestration.
Sustainable strategies that helped shape the aesthetic warmth in addition to retention of the historic structure included: minimizing the footprint of new additions on the tight urban site, vastly improving the building shell thermal envelope, highly efficient mechanical and electrical systems, effective storm water detention, and structured on-site parking.
Graphics on the new athletic center of the school's mascot, the tiger.
