With significant population growth and a boost in student enrollment over the past decade, Arlington Public Schools in northern Virginia faces a new challenge: creating schools within a dense urban environment. A prime example of this challenge is the $100-million Wilson Secondary School, now under construction. At completion, which is scheduled for fall 2019, the design and construction team aims to deliver a 181,803-sq-ft building in a corridor of high-rise buildings in Rosslyn, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
The building rises five stories above grade, but architect BIG developed a creative concept to provide classrooms on every floor that gives students the experience of being in a one-story school.