Felton Grove High School

Felton Grove High School

Apex, NC

Wake County Public School System selected RATIO to design a new high school for 2,350 students near Stephenson Road in Apex, NC. To conduct an interactive, engaging design process during the Covid-19 pandemic, the design team held virtual meetings on a weekly basis with WCPSS facility planners to develop an initial design for the 112-teaching space school. RATIO leveraged 3D design tools such as Sketchup, Revit, and Enscape, as well as collaborative applications such as Whiteboard and Bluebeam to conduct these highly interactive virtual LiveDesignSM sessions with WCPSS facility planners and other key stakeholders.

Client
Wake County Public School System
Size
360,000 SF
Year
2024
This school will serve as a model for 21st century learning in Wake County. 

It features a two-story central dining commons designed as a multi-functional space that can serve as pre-function lobby for assembly events, education meeting space, after hours community space, and truly becomes the “living room” of the school. The central commons also facilitates wayfinding by providing a physical and visual connection to all of the major program elements including administration and student services, the main theatre, the main and auxiliary gyms, the media center, and access to the two academic wings. Each academic wing is three stories and includes three breakout commons per floor that provide equal access from all seminar spaces and labs and organize the school into 18 small learning communities to foster a more personalized experience for all students.

The dining commons connects directly to an exterior learning terrace that steps down to the courtyard between the two classroom wings providing an exterior gathering space and outdoor classroom while also helping to mitigate the substantial topographic change across the site. The classrooms wings are set into the grade in a split level configuration such that the schools main entrance is on the second level.  The flanking classroom wings on either side of the courtyard buffer surrounding elements while embracing the connection of the classrooms to the landscape.