Garden City High School Functions More Like a College Campus
The new 384,000-sq-ft Garden City High School was built to hold more than 2,000 students. Designed more like a community college than a traditional high school, the facility is segmented into four distinct academies, providing an incubator for real-world job skills.
The project scope included a 121-acre campus with 120 classrooms, a 750-seat auditorium, 750-seat commons area, 500-seat auxiliary gymnasium and first-class physical training and sports facilities. A working television studio and radio station allows students to explore broadcasting careers. The health and science wing features laboratories rivaling those found at medical research facilities.
The limited labor market in Garden City, Kan., presented several challenges since many subcontractors were already working on other local projects and were hesitant to abandon their regular clients. The team tried to balance stimulating the local economy with bringing in highly specialized trades, which were hard to find in the area. A&P held subcontractor meet-and-greets and worked to understand local subcontractors and their abilities, creatively dividing up the work into manageable pieces.
Unlike a typical K-12 school, this project combined structural steel, precast concrete, brick, CMU block, metal wall panels and an extensive glass curtain wall.
2013 Best Colorado/Wyoming K-12 Education Project
Garden City High School
Garden City, Kan.
Key Players
Owner Garden City Public Schools Unified School District, Garden City, Kan.
Architect DLR Group Kansas City, Overland Park, Kan.
General Contractor Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Aurora, Colo.
Structural/MEP Engineer DLR Group, Overland Park, Kan.
Civil Engineer MKEC Engineering Consultants Inc., Overland Park, Kan.