When Greer Stafford was selected for this project in 2005, the existing Bloomfield High School was a maze of disconnected buildings that made supervision of students difficult. There wasn’t a well-defined main entry. In addition to being in poor condition, facilities were cramped, poorly laid-out, and had very little natural lighting.

This multi-year, multi-phased project incrementally replaced the majority of existing facilities on campus, with minimal disruption to learning activities. In addition to the challenge of carrying out construction on an active school campus, the compact site had very little buildable area remaining. To solve this problem, our Design Team devised a “leapfrog strategy” in which a new facility was built and occupied, and then an old facility was demolished and replaced. The most disruptive demolition work was scheduled to coincide with summer vacations.

Careful schedule control kept the sequence of work on track over the course of 5 years, 10 sub-phases, and 3 bonding cycles. All phases were completed on or ahead of schedule, with a very low average of architect-initiated change orders. Ultimately 157,600 square feet of new facilities replaced 122,000 square feet of outdated buildings that were demolished.

The bulk of the new high school is now housed in single two-story building with interior circulation, which minimizes the need for students to move between buildings. The new front entry is obvious and welcoming; while administrative areas have been configured to provide excellent visual control of the entry, student commons, and outdoor student courtyard. Classrooms & support spaces are well proportioned and infused with ample daylighting.