The Renton School Board has approved the schematic designs for replacing Renton High School.

At the Jan. 22 board meeting, representatives from Capital Planning and Construction and BRIC Architecture presented an update that included design concepts for a new three-story high school building for Renton High School in downtown Renton.

The total project has a budget of $434,736,000 and will be funded from the 2023 bond. The project was initiated when voters in the school district passed the school construction measure on the Nov. 2022 ballot. Focus groups were launched last spring.

Capital Planning and Construction senior facilities program director Brianne Tomlin said they took information collected from meetings with government officials, the Renton High School Design and Equity Committee, cost estimators and from tours of schools in peer districts with staff and students to refine their design concepts.

BRIC Architecture principal Karina Ruiz said there was a focus to align the design of Renton High School with the equitable practices the school system is using to advance education.

“Oftentimes we neglect to realize the design, both the outcome and the process we use to arrive at the design, can also be a contributor to the replication of inequity,” Ruiz said. “We’ve been really intentional as we design our engagement processes to ensure that we’re crafting equitable and inclusive processes that allow us to truly reflect the Renton community.”

Ruiz said the team met with many groups including the Latino Student Union, Black Student Union, staff alumni and fifth grade classes at Lakeridge Elementary School. She said they appreciated being able to listen to both groups that are currently in high school as well as the kids that will be some of the first to learn in the new building.

From the Renton community, Ruiz said she heard an emphasis on the balance between old and new, and to have comfortable places where students and staff gather.

Structurally, Tomlin said they came to the conclusion to consolidate the new high school building for better supervision and community cohesion, to centralize site parking and circulation for better access to campus buildings and to reduce and simplify construction phasing and duration when possible to keep costs down.

BRIC Architecture lead designer Octavio Gutierrez said the new design will use the 1932 building as a Renton School District support space with a new north wall and updates to the egress and systems within the building. The design includes centralized staff parking and expanded student and visitor parking in the southwest corner with proposed access from Lake Street and Second Street.

As for the new building, the main entrance will consist of a secure vestibule adjacent to Second Street with attendance, heath, administration and counseling rooms near the entrance. Student gathering spaces including a courtyard are located at the center of the building with dedicated wings for PE and athletics, performing arts, classrooms and electives. Gutierrez said the floor plan gets smaller when moving up floors to allow for more natural lighting.

For the exterior design, Gutierrez said they wanted to look to see what they could borrow from the 1932 building to incorporate in their new design.

“Some of those things that we thought can honor that design were looking at similar tower elements, like the historic tower, and finding things that could mimic or create similar elevations that create that grandeur and that importance,” Gutierrez said.

The material palette will also try to match the older buildings by using brick and terra cotta on the facades.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for murals on the glass, a lot of color, to really celebrate the pride of the place and to make sure this feels uniquely Renton,” Gutierrez said.

The next steps include more focus groups, presenting design updates to Renton High School Design and Equity Committee for feedback, continued site and building investigations, developing design for City of Renton review and developing phasing and construction schedule plan with an updated cost estimate.

The rendering of the new building emphasizes the design features incorporated from the existing buildings on site. Courtesy image

The design schematics presented by BRIC Architecture at the school board meeting shows the new school building and parking lots in relationship to the old buildings and the adjacent streets. Courtesy image