Westgroup Designs was tasked with delivering the Los Alamitos High School a STEM Building for future learning in Los Alamitos, California.

In an increasingly complex world, it’s more important than ever that our future leaders, neighbors, and workers can understand and solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Scholars must also be equipped to meet the ever-changing demands of the workforce, thus the importance of nurturing students’ proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); to enhance their skills, knowledge, and fluency in these fields. With this inspiration, the Los Alamitos Unified School District set its sights on establishing a curriculum and facility to support this program, for their award-winning singular high school.

The project program was formed as a collaborative effort with Los Alamitos Unified School District, educational stakeholders, business partners, community members, and local community colleges. The design acknowledges the district’s desire to produce a long-term solution for this high-performance environment, as well as to replace aging campus facilities predominantly 50 years old.

As part of the District’s 2018 Measure G facilities improvement bond measure, the District proposed to demolish the existing Los Alamitos High School Administration and Media Center buildings to pave the way for a new multistory Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) classroom building that will provide students and staff modern facilities that will support the campus.

The new 3-story, 86,000 GSF building replaced a majority of the 30 existing portable classrooms with permanent facilities, accommodates the entire Science department, and is located at the front of the campus to enhance school safety and improve vehicular access.

The ground floor of the new building will house student-services program spaces that include Administration, Health Services, Counseling Services, Campus Discipline & Safety, Campus Information Technologies Support, Media Center, and Career Center. Specialized Career Technical Education (CTE) instruction spaces are also located on the ground floor for Computer Technologies pathways focused on computer programming and applied engineering (robotics). The large, shaded courtyards and stadium seating areas function as outdoor opportunities for flexible learning and social activities.

The two upper floors of the building house 15 general classrooms, 15 science classrooms, and associated student and staff support spaces, including dedicated Professional Learning Community (PLC) spaces on each floor for enhanced collaboration between teaching disciplines.

As an architectural expression of this inspirational program, the large framed “Window of Opportunity” above the main entrance is in the school’s brand signature royal blue color, presenting a new public face to the community as it welcomes curious minds, with the collective goal of elevating the civic identity of the school to a post-secondary standard. A light and bright building envelope, washing interior spaces with natural daylight from every elevation, the visual texture is enhanced by a timeless palette of masonry, steel, glass, and concrete which integrates with existing campus buildings and complements adjacent outdoor landscaped areas.

Standing as a beacon of achievement in the community, this new facility learning environment, befitting the high-performing standards of Los Alamitos High School’s teachers and students, will prepare tomorrow’s leaders for great success beyond the classroom, wherever life takes them.

Design: Westgroup Designs
Project Team: Shazad Ghanbari, PariSima Hassani, Ken Ong, Michael Cecconi, Robyn Taylor, Nancy Sprute, Liyuan Huang
Contractor: Erickson-Hall Construction
Photography: Terrance Williams