Title: Dobyns-Bennett High School
Location of Proejct: Kingsport, Tennessee
Project Completion Date: August 2019
Firm Name: Perkins and Will

Short Description: The Dobyns-Bennett High School Regional Science and Technology Addition is a state-of-the-art facility that allows the school to advance their history of academic success in the sciences while establishing a new gateway to the existing campus. The distinct design strategy is rooted in the client’s desire to create learning spaces that could both meet their aspirational goals while maintaining flexibility for how students might learn in the future. In contrast to the existing masonry building, day-lighting is used extensively throughout the new building, creating a sun-filled classroom with views out to the mountains beyond.

Architect's Statement: The Dobyns-Bennett High School Regional Science and Technology Addition is a state-of-the-art facility that allows the school to advance their history of academic success in the sciences while establishing a new gateway to the existing campus. The project consists of 24 learning spaces wrapped around a 3-story atrium providing views through the building and out to Bays Mountains beyond. In contrast to the existing building, day-lighting is used extensively throughout the new building, both in the atrium through a large clerestory and in the classrooms by having glazing on both the façade and hallway walls. The triangular shape of the new addition allows for a minimal connection to the existing building and its challenging geometry and the maximum width for the new façade which helps completely transform the view of the school from the street. Science classrooms were designed to be modular and flexible enough to easily switch between subjects throughout the school day as well as prepare for unexpected advances in the future. Much of this project’s design was rooted in the aspirations of the school and an understanding that they needed something radically different from their current spaces, something that matched and supported their pedagogical goals.

The main challenge of the project was how to add onto a school composed of hexagonal-shaped pods topped by 3-way barrel vault roofs. To engage this geometry lightly but respectfully, the existing angled walls of the masonry pods were offset to create a triangular shape that connected to the original entry point and then spread out to create the new school identity. The form feels like a natural extension of the older building because of the shared geometries and how the new building maintains a sense of symmetry similar to the old.

The offset of the new building from the masonry pods allowed for the creation of new landscape zones on both sides of the addition which contain pathways that meander between the buildings and underneath the open-air connector bridges as well an exterior classrooms with tiered seating. Whereas the existing building is nearly completely opaque and had no views out, the new building is primarily transparent, offering views out onto the courtyards, the pathway as well as the foothills of Bay’s Mountain.