926,300 Square Feet

The Salida High School project consisted of an existing high school building of numerous additions from various years that were well beyond their useful lifespan. Blythe Group + Co. provided a master plan to prepare for the BEST program which identified the need to demolish the old high school and build a state-of-the-art new high school. After assisting the District with the BEST submission and a successful bond election in November 2010, Blythe Group +Co. was hired to provide architectural design services and the project was underway and needed to be complete by the start of classes in August 2012. The new high school consists of 96,300 GSF dived into three parts; educational wing, performing arts wing, and vocational/athletics wing all centered around a commons/community living room.

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The educational wing is two stories of general classrooms, art and science classrooms, Special Education classrooms, specialty classroom, administration offices and support spaces, media center and computer labs.

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The performing art wing is focused around a 375 seat auditorium. A combination band/choir room flanks the south side while backstage and support spaces are behind the auditorium. Adjacent to the auditorium are the building mechanical spaces and IT spaces as well as the foodservice department.

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The vocational/athletics wing consists of an auto shop, wood shop, an auxiliary gym and main gym. The commons which ties this all together is framed on the easy by a glass wall that over-looks the exterior courtyard. This courtyard has a backdrop of the new athletic facility which contains a 400 meter track with events and a combination football/soccer field within. The remainder of the site contains parking areas, outdoor learning amphitheater, green space, practice fields, and the renovation Edgar Kesner building to the north. 

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The design of the building incorporated sustainable strategies which resulted in LEED Gold designation. The building is arranged to maximize the potential for natural daylighting while implementing techniques to minimize solar heat gain. Solar shading devices are utilized on the south facade. the building exterior wall construction is brick veneer and weathered galvanized metal panel over a high R-value insulation system. Inside the building high efficiency mechanical, plumbing, and electrical system were used.