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Edna Karr High School

Designing a state-of-the-art campus in partnership with VMDO for a high-performing school with an emphasis on collaborative interaction and visibility – keys to learning, safety, and security.

Category Education
New Build

Size 143,200 SF

Location Algiers, LA

Year 2020

Opportunity

Situated on a 24-acre site previously occupied by an abandoned hospital complex, the new build design for Edna Karr High School aims to provide a complete learning and social ecosystem for its 1,200 students. The school is the highest-performing open enrollment school in Orleans Parish in both academics and athletics. The layout is strategically designed, featuring a central core with west and east wings wrapping around a courtyard. The academic classrooms are positioned on the upper floors of the central mass and the west wing, while the east wing houses performing arts and physical education facilities, including a competition and practice gymnasium. The design also includes a dedicated practice field for the renowned marching band, consisting of 100+ instrumentalists, dancers, flag corps, and twirlers.

STRATEGY

The design approach focuses on creating an adaptable learning environment that promotes social interaction, student safety, and collaboration. The 3-story scheme minimizes the foundation's footprint, reduces roof area, and elevates academic spaces above the ground floor public realm. The building is situated on an east-west axis to provide ideal solar orientation for most classrooms.

The U-shaped layout, with distinct wings and a central courtyard, embodies a strategic arrangement to foster collaboration and create a vibrant educational atmosphere. The layout is strategically designed, featuring a central core with west and east wings wrapping around a courtyard. The academic classrooms are positioned on the upper floors of the central mass and the west wing, while the east wing houses performing arts and physical education facilities, including a competition and practice gymnasium. The design also includes a dedicated practice field for the renowned marching band.

Outcome

The design of Edna Karr High School serves as a transformative space that elevates the learning experience and enriches the community. By creating a sustainable, adaptable structure that encourages social interaction, the design prioritizes student well-being and safety while supporting Orleans Parish’s highest-performing school. The LEED Gold certification underscores its environmental efficiency, reducing energy costs and ensuring long-term resilience.

The high school’s layout maximizes functionality by strategically grouping programs—athletics, performing arts, and academics—tailored to support a range of student interests and career pathways. Collaborative spaces, such as breakout areas and social learning nodes, allow students and teachers to tailor environments to their needs, fostering ownership and flexibility in learning. The community benefits from the high school’s thoughtful engagement with the site, repurposing underutilized land to provide a vibrant social hub that supports students’ academic and extracurricular activities. This inclusive, forward-thinking design serves as a model for urban educational environments, embodying a place of pride, resilience, and opportunity for the broader community.

A key feature is the Media Library, positioned at the heart of the school. It is connected to a Reading Room/Lounge on the first floor, which showcases natural light and creating inviting spaces for intellectual exploration. The main reading room is elevated to provide riverside views, and the overhanging Reading Room offers a covered porch facing the courtyard. The design team articulated circulation and public spaces differently from classrooms through subtle massing changes and materiality, contributing to the overall aesthetic and functionality of the school.

The relationship between the library, serving as the academic hub, and the courtyard, the prominent gathering space, is carefully considered. The courtyard is enclosed and protected by the building mass, providing students with a sense of security and an "outdoor room" for socializing.

Unprogrammed communal spaces, including exterior covered porches with stepped seating, contribute to the outdoor socializing culture of New Orleans. This approach ensures that both educators and students can actively shape their learning environments to meet individual and group needs, fostering a dynamic and responsive educational setting.

Construction

Awards

US Green Building Council, LEED CertificationLEED Gold, 2021

The Team

Paula M. Peer

Sarah Simonson

Kevin Barns

Related Projects

Trinity Episcopal Church and School Master Plan

Ben Franklin High School Master Plan

James M. Singleton Head Start Center

Dillard University Student Housing

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850 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
info@trapolinpeer.com
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