HED was tasked with updating the Terra Linda High School campus with plenty of light and modern spaces in San Rafael, California.

The Community of Terra Linda in San Rafael chose HED to improve their 1961 campus. To begin, HED led a community master planning effort that creatively eliminated the need for temporary facilities. This allowed for a larger portion of the budget to be allocated to the reinvigoration of the campus, improved social spaces, and the construction of an entirely new academic core and innovation hub. The student commons is now the epicenter of an invigorating campus layout that centralizes the library, technology, media, music, drama, and food services.

This new configuration maximizes daylight within the facilities and creates an activated indoor/outdoor social hub for students and the community–creating a new beating heart to the Terra Linda campus.

The commons improves the student and staff experience in key campus spaces, including the library, cafeteria, career center, and music building. The facility also makes extensive use of skylights and glazed curtain wall systems to create a comprehensive natural lighting scheme that promotes learning.

The building’s central campus position, access to an open revitalized courtyard, and flexible adjacencies of program allow greater opportunities for interaction. The student commons building and courtyard create a central core gathering space for the student population which was lacking in the original campus.

Design: HED
Photography: Velarde Photography