River Ridge High School

River Ridge High School features Dowel-Laminated Timber (DLT), which employs timber dowels as the binding agent instead of traditional adhesives, reducing carbon footprint while offering strength and versatility. The timbers rise high above the heads of visitors in the expansive new commons space, the central feature of the campus upgrades. The school was in need of modernizations to satisfy program needs while centralizing its community via sustainable avenues.  

The final design includes a striking new welcome to the school through a large, glazed entrance wall serving as a beacon for a community. Community members, students, and staff are welcomed inward, beyond the glazed wall into an upbeat commons, bathed in natural daylight. Light, texture, and tone play overhead where students, teachers, staff, and families will gather for future assemblies and celebrations. The upgraded entrance and adjacent new DLT commons structure links the modernized portions of the building with the new two-story wing of academic and research spaces to provide significantly expanded classroom capacity.