CAW Architects (CAW) has been at the forefront of reshaping California education through its award-winning educational portfolio for decades. Committed to enhancing the educational lives of children and young adults, the firm’s wide-ranging educational portfolio, which spans elementary, secondary, and university campus work, reflects its belief that all students deserve equal access and inclusion.

To date, the firm has designed the first two LEED Platinum K-12 public school buildings in the Bay Area, a Net-Zero Energy Master Plan for a comprehensive public high school in Oakland, and substantial campus revitalizations at Stanford University with an established goal of becoming carbon neutral and utilizing 100% renewable energy. It has been well documented that there is a clear link between increased student performance and the environmental quality of the built environment.

Berkeley High School’s Building A houses the 3500-seat Community Theater and 560-seat Florence Schwimley Theater, in addition to classroom and support spaces for the school’s premier Visual and Performing Arts programs. Completed in 1950, the building is listed as a contributor to two historic districts for its Art Deco style. However, the interior’s severely worn condition exhibited decades of use with few upgrades, while the cramped classroom spaces and oversized Community Theater no longer adequately served the students, faculty, or surrounding community.

CAW Architects first undertook a planning study to develop a long-term renovation plan for the Theater Building in order to return it to a vibrant, safe, and accessible environment for performing arts and technical stagecraft students, and for the community. The first step in the study was a comprehensive assessment of the building conditions to identify necessary building systems upgrades, determine required seismic strengthening, and discern the shortcomings and potential of the academic and performance spaces in terms of functionality and accessibility.

The team then worked closely with the client to develop design solutions that addressed not only the building’s basic deficiencies, but also the future needs of the thriving performing arts programs. Design challenges included creating new classrooms and rehearsal spaces for music, drama, dance, and technical stagecraft programs by magnifying the available space and designing for flexible use within the existing building envelope, improving the function of the two performance spaces to better serve the performers, technicians, and audience members, and enhancing the building’s presence on the high school campus by enlivening the building’s front door, while securing the campus from public entrance.

With great enthusiasm, CAW Architects recently kicked off the next phase of development, focused on the renovation of the Florence Schwimley Theater and a reimagined student and public entrance to complete the modernization efforts of Building A.

Design: CAW Architects
Photography: Tim Maloney