Wight is fully engaged as Adlai E. Stevenson High School’s District Architect and Design Partner. One of the first steps completed was the development of a comprehensive, long-term outlook of the District’s needs. The Facility Master Plan integrates maintenance and life cycle projects with educational upgrades and capacity needs.

Initial implementation of the Facility Master Plan has included renovated department offices, an updated food servery/kitchen, a dining commons, and an East Building classroom addition.

East Building Addition

The addition addresses growing enrollment and provides new learning environments aligned with the school’s educational paradigms. The new facility includes world language classrooms, maker labs, and multi-purpose presentation spaces for conferences and extended learning, as well as five advanced physics and engineering program labs. Unique aspects of the science spaces include reconfigurable labs with multiple teaching surfaces and a two-story atrium for vertical drops and robotics experiments. Rooftop teaching spaces to support biology and botany include a greenhouse and exterior gardens, where food is produced to demonstrate a farm-to-fork approach.

Awards:

First Place in the ASHRAE Technology Award Competition for Educational Facilities
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This article was published in ASHRAE Journal, June 2022. Copyright 2022 ASHRAE. Posted at www.ashrae.org. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE. For more information, visit www.ashrae.org.

Creating a modern, collegiate-style dining facility

Expectations of the “Food Network generation”—both in terms of their food preferences and their interest in the culinary arts—are beginning to impact schools in unexpected ways. Successful food service programs are featuring “eat-ertainment” components—putting food prep on display in a theater-like setting, adding made-to-order stations, and more—that are not only increasing student participation in dining programs but also resulting in healthier food choices. Increased student interest in using dining areas as social gathering spaces outside of normal lunch hours is also helping these spaces to have a useful life beyond the lunch hour.

Recognizing this opportunity, Adlai E. Stevenson High School took specific steps to invigorate their food service program, and discovered exciting results. The design of both the servery and dining areas were aligned to deliver on these next/best practices.

It’s not about serving students healthier lunches, it’s about enticing students to eat healthier.

Adlai Stevenson East 08
Adlai Stevenson East 12

Project Personnel