David Prouty High School

This renovation and addition will give David Prouty the facility they need to provide 21st century education, increase technology and provide the flexibility to fulfill individual teachers’ needs.

The 5,200 nsf of teaching laboratories and prep rooms suit a range of chemistry, biology and physics classes and will be housed in the addition. A key design goal is adaptability, so the labs will be built with infrastructure and furnishings to support multiple disciplines. For example, one lab can serve biology, physics or general science. Another can support micro/molecular biology, general life sciences and physics. That flexibility will allow the school to create the curriculum that best supports students.

The teaching laboratories are designed with an open floor furnished with mobile, adjustable-height lab tables and fixed bench and utilities at the perimeter, giving teachers the ability to reconfigure and work with students in multiple ways in a single class.

New to the school will be project zones within the labs to accommodate and store work in progress and serve as science on display. Also new will be shaded and paved outside teaching space complete with utilities.

The decision for a renovation and addition followed a feasibility study by the design team with significant community involvement throughout the process. The school will remain open during construction.

Location

Spencer, Massachusetts

Size

126,800 GSF

Services

Program verification and lab planning and design

Architect

Jones Whitsett Architects