The community put its foot down when considering the $64 million high school project in Grayslake, Ill.

Residents, board members and others could tread on a large, multipanel map put on the gymnasium floor of the existing Grayslake Community High School during a session to propose ideas and get feedback on plans for the still-unnamed school, said August Battaglia, design principal for Oak Brook, Ill.-based FGM Architects Engineers Inc., the architect.

The drawing identified prominent features of the 154-acre site, such as access points and wetlands. Modules that represented the school's academic, athletic and other spaces could be moved around on the plan during the meeting to provide a depiction of where the project stood and how it could be changed.

Suggestions emerged from this and other gatherings that resulted in ideas incorporated in the final plan.

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One such idea was the siting of the building, said Glen Eriksson, board member for Grayslake Community High School District 127. The school, which was originally located in a "boring" spot on the huge site, was placed next to the wetlands.

The hope is the location will pay dividends in an enriched educational environment.

The academic wing that holds the classrooms and library will be closest to the wetlands, helping to produce the tranquil atmosphere conducive to reflection and learning. Science classes can take advantage of the outdoor classroom.

"You could see all the light bulbs go off in all the board members' minds who were present at the time," Eriksson said.

An outdoor amphitheater between the school and the wetlands is expected to become a popular spot for performances, class discussion and conversation. And, the academic wing has an S shape drawn from the contours of the site, helping to develop an architectural language suitable to the location.

The oddly shaped structure resulted in extra care in laying out the locations for the foundations because of the 400- and 500-ft.-radii curves, said Bill Overton, superintendent in Arlington Heights, Ill., for New York-based Turner Construction Co., the construction manager.

"You're not going to pull a radius with a tape measure 400 ft., even if it's not in a wetland," he added. Surveying was calculated precisely to locate each of the wing's more than 100 spread-footing foundations and column lines.

"You'd look at the site, and it was a bunch of trees and water," Battaglia said. "By putting it down on the gym floor, we illustrated all of the ideas."

Accommodating Huge Growth

Explosive growth in enrollment is driving the project about 35 to 40 mi. north of Chicago.

Eleven years ago the existing high school had 800 students, but now it holds 2,000, said Michael Zelek, associate superintendent for business affairs of District 127.

"The homes keep being built around our district," he added.

A $50 million referendum approved in March 2002 is funding the bulk of the project, and a $14 million state grant will cover the balance. Construction began in September 2002, and the school will open in late summer.

When the project began, three distinct construction phases were planned, but these stages have started to meld as funding and other key issues have been resolved, said Terry Owens, FGM project director. An estimated three quarters of the entire project has been started.

The 307,000-sq.-ft. school will serve all four grades and is designed to accommodate 1,500 students. If additions occur in the future, the school can serve another 300 students.

The three-floor academic wing will hold about 50 to 60 rooms. The building's remaining sections are one or two floors, and other important spaces include a mechanical room and a below-grade utility tunnel.

The school will also have a field house with a football stadium attached to it, in addition to other athletic fields. An auxiliary gym might also be constructed.

Structural steel holds up the facility, other than the field house, which is supported with load-bearing precast concrete. Copper-, purple- and buff-colored brick dresses the school.

"We have composed those in vertical and horizontal elements," Battaglia said.
Daylighting will illuminate activities. Eight skylights frame the library roof and six the cafeteria top, and each classroom has four windows.

Revering Site's Beauty

Respecting the natural beauty of the site that was once farmland became a top project focus.

Manicured areas in the campus were minimized to preserve the campus' natural character, Owens said. Honoring the landscape also led to the decision to dispose of 18 acres acquired as part the original land purchase.

The parcel of mature oaks and maples, which is located across the wetlands from the academic wing, was sold to the Lake County Forest Preserve District so that it could be incorporated in its Millennium Trail bicycle path.

Four desedimentation basins were built so that runoff from the site releases impurities before draining into the wetlands, Overton said.

Avoiding Entrance Confusion

The community sessions paved the way for some of the project's concrete details, too.
For instance, a concern that emerged in the community was avoiding confusion about the location of the school's entrance, Battaglia said. Visitors to the existing high school can easily become confounded because three expansions there since the early 1990s have resulted in a hodgepodge of doors.

At the new school, visitors will emerge from a grove of trees and first see a two-story tower and flagpole that mark the entrance.

"It's always clear to visitors where they should go," Battaglia added. "That was a big concern of the school board because of the nature of security today. The size of the school can also be disorienting, particularly for freshmen on the first day of school."

Avoiding multiple circulation routes for guests and students surfaced as a point because of the existing high school's maze-like pattern, also due to the expansions.

The solution was to create a courtyard with a circulation system around it that links the most popular areas, said Jim Woods, programming manager for FGM. Spaces parents and guests frequently go to - administration offices, counseling area, cafeteria, theater - are near the courtyard and help create a main circulation pattern.