Detroit’s Cass Technical High School takes top honors
Completed less than two years ago, Cass Technical High School in Detroit is a brand new building that already
has a lot of history.
The original Cass Technical High School opened its doors
in 1917 and in more recent years graduated such high-profile
students as Grammy-winning singer Diana Ross, automotive giant John DeLorean, and current Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. But it is the new school’s innovative design, creative site plan, exterior splendor, thoughtful circulation, and modern curriculum spaces that captured the attention of this year’s Learning By Design judges—and ultimately earned TMP/TYJT
A Joint Venture, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the 2007 Grand Prize Award for Cass Technical High School.
A magnet school open to all Detroit students who pass a
rigorous application process, Cass Technical High School has
at its core a streamlined seven-story structure topped by an
eye-catching media center that is flooded with natural light
during the day and becomes an architectural beacon rising
out of its urban surroundings when illuminated at night.
“It’s bound to become a landmark educationally and physically,” judges commented, lauding the project’s successful execution despite a tight urban site. “It’s a great model of an urban school in a very tight space. The quality of the architecture is really
elevated.”
The move to build a new Cass Technical High School, rather
than upgrade the original building, resulted from a comprehensive planning study conducted by TMP/TYJT A Joint Venture. The study found it cost prohibitive to complete the massive renovation, particularly given the instructional spaces and technology needed to support what is touted as the most rigorous high school
curriculum in the Detroit area.
Judges called the 2007 Grand Prize winner “an incredible packaging job,” praising the design’s ability to effectively serve the 2,200 students following the school’s seven curriculum pathways. During their first year at Cass Technical High School, students explore all seven curriculum areas—arts and communication; business and marketing; engineering and manufacturing; health sciences; human services; natural resources/agri-science; and science and arts. In their sophomore year, students choose to focus on one of the seven.
Classrooms for each curriculum pathway are strategically arranged throughout the school’s main seven-story structure so
that “Collaboration Stations” between the pathways encourage interaction, collaboration, and communication among the
teachers and students in the different areas of study.
The school’s exterior projects a modern, high-tech look. Materials such as precast brick panels match the brick buildings nearby but give the façade a cleaner, more engineered quality. Heavy masonry is lightened by large expanses of glass and with a lighter metal structure. Glass is tinted and shaded to reduce
solar heat gain from the sun and helps reduce demands on
the building’s cooling systems.
“It’s a nostalgic high-tech look in some ways,” judges observed, lauding the exterior design for its modern appearance and sleek image. “For high school kids, going to school in this professional quality space must be uplifting.” |
