The New Noble High School Competition

2015 Chicago Illinois

Tom Bader, Design Team Member with Wheeler Kearns Architects

Larry Kearns Lead Principal, Chris Anne Spencer, Daniel Wicke, Thomas Boyster, Michael Kendall Design Team

An invited competition winning entry for a new college prep charter high school in an underserved neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. The Noble Network of Charter Schools issued an RFP titled “Request for Inspiration”. The goal was to build a school that embodied best practices in educational architecture. Building on the lessons learned from several previous school projects, our WKA team focused on an architecture built around supporting student centered learning in a student centered campus. Classroom organizations based on established research were developed from the ground up for functional learning needs, and the larger organizational structures of the school built around communal gathering, connection to natural light, and engagement with the larger social community of the neighborhood. This emphasis on an architecture that supports functional learning needs rather than simply eye catching architecture engaged the client team in unanimously selecting this proposal over those from two well respected competitors. These design concepts were successful in attracting a major donor for the Mansueto Charter High School that was built in modified form on a nearby alternate site.

Larry Kearns contributed learning expertise and design concepts, Tom developed the concepts into the physical building form through 3d modeling, and the entire team collectively contributed design ideas, critiques, physical modeling, renderings and the completed winning proposal.