Title: Morrow High School and Arena
Location of Proejct: Ellenwood, Georgia
Project Completion Date: N/A
Firm Name: Perkins and Will

Short Description: The new Morrow High School replaces an aging, overcrowded, and outdated facility with new state-of-the-art instructional and athletic facilities. The new building responds to site constraints by re-thinking the traditional educational “box” with a building that is modern, inspiring, and site-specific. The school provides both traditional instruction in the liberal arts and sciences as well as career and technical education. It will serve a growing and diverse population of students in the suburbs of south metro Atlanta near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Architect's Statement: The project consists of a classroom building whose serpentine form rides a ridge at the north end of the project site as well as a large pebble-shaped athletic building which includes competition basketball and volleyball courts, an auxiliary gym, weight room, and locker rooms. The site’s remaining open space accommodates a new county football and track and field stadium as well as new baseball, softball and tennis facilities.

Located adjacent to Clayton Elementary School, the project is characterized by a unique and efficient program arrangement that locates the instructional spaces along an s-shaped double-loaded corridor. The corridor is punctuated by large open student study commons located at points tangential to the two sweeping curves in the building plan. These open spaces combined with abundant fenestration and the narrow building footprint provide access to daylight throughout the building. On the second floor, a bridge extends tangentially to connect directly into the athletic building. Soaring cantilevers punctuate either end of the building. These accommodate a stepped, two-story media center above the main entrance and provide shaded, protected outdoor spaces for student and public use.

The athletic building’s canted exterior wall helps to reduce energy costs through self-shading and provides a strong backdrop to the outdoor stadium which sits across a public plaza to its south. Both buildings are clad in a combination of dark iron-spot brick, custom-designed clear anodized aluminum curtain wall mullions and spandrel panels, and exposed concrete structural elements.