Student agency and wellness take center stage.
Choosing from a broad array of academic and vocational programs can be a daunting task for any student. The design empowers students to take ownership of their learning experiences by optimizing for maximum spatial connectivity and transparency, encouraging them to explore, discover, and seek happiness in what may become their life’s work.
Waltham: “Watch City”
|Historic factories and canals have defined the city’s landscape for 200 years. The new school infuses this architectural legacy with modern design principles.
Inspired by the 19th century brick facades of nearby industrial buildings, the school boasts a high-performance envelope with triple glazing for much-improved thermal performance.
The fish-scale patterns in the auditorium’s zinc cladding and tilework (above) reference the slate roofs of Victorian homes that surround the site.
Globally renowned for its watchmaking and textile manufacturing, Waltham’s location on the Middlesex Canal placed its entrepreneurs at the forefront of the American Industrial Revolution.
The design of Waltham High School celebrates this tradition. The school’s brick façade with regular openings pays homage to the historic mill buildings that once defined the city’s industrial landscape.
The design also includes elements of the Arts and Crafts movement, seen in buildings like the nearby Stonehurst house, designed by H.H. Richardson. Like Stonehurst, the simple use of natural materials connects the school to a sense of nature.
The school’s layout reflects its diverse curriculum.
Four “learning clusters” extend from the school’s core: Humanities, STE(A)M, Fine & Performing Arts, and Health, Wellness, & Athletics. The clusters are connected by social gathering spaces: the dining commons and the media center.
The media center hosts formal and informal gatherings.
The space includes a small cafe, offering students more opportunities for collaboration and chance encounters.
The design marks a clean break from the “sage on the stage” approach of traditional schools.
Classrooms and teacher support spaces are organized around centrally located, light-filled breakout areas for collaborative, project-based learning.
Experiential Graphics
|The graphics foster students’ growth and learning by stirring emotions and finding unexpected ways to inform, educate, and inspire.
The design process was informed by almost 1,000 survey results from staff, students, and community members, as well as graphic-specific focus groups and in-depth research of Waltham-inspired content. SMMA worked closely with the Waltham Historical Society to capture the City’s identity and uncover inspiring stories about its residents.
From these surveys, four key themes emerged:
Diversity & Inclusion:
The design features motifs and patterns inspired by the diverse cultures represented in the school community, using textiles and icons from student and family backgrounds to reflect inclusivity.
Tapping into Waltham’s proud history of textile manufacturing, the designs use textile motifs to represent global cultures with a connection to the many origin countries that form the student body.
Activism:
Graphics highlight stories of local pioneers, reformers, and activists, connecting students to Waltham’s history of change and social progress. Portraits and posters showcase individuals who embody traits like empathy and courage.
Communication:
The power of public speaking and expression is celebrated through installations featuring notable speeches and figures, emphasizing the importance of communication skills.
Hands-on Learning:
Visuals and materials like tile mosaics emphasize craft, making, and real-world skills, aligning with the school’s focus on experiential, non-traditional learning and STEM programs.
School signage and wayfinding help students navigate the four-level building.
The new Waltham High School prioritizes density and conservation over sprawl.
Site Design
|By adding an extra floor to the typical three levels found in most high schools, the design team was able to preserve a great deal of green space. This included stacking the playing fields on top of parking.
The site plan preserves a section of forest, sparing it from the clearing and blasting required by an earlier plan that located the playing fields near the school entrance.
Another challenge was posed by the bank and wetland stream that cuts directly through the site. Working with a consultant, SMMA created a strategy to develop the site while preserving the existing wetlands. The team proposed native plantings to stabilize the bank and quickly establish new resource areas.
The school is bound on two sides by a 150-foot-high rock outcrop.
This dramatic landscape is mirrored by the design of the dining commons and learning stair—an interior landscape that settles the school in its natural surroundings.
Waltham’s history of craftsmanship comes full circle with hands-on vocational programs.
14 CTE (Career-Technical Education) shops offer students a chance to explore a potential career path. These spaces allow for both theory and practical application, including public-facing programs that invite the Waltham community into the school.
Large CTE programs define the rear half of the building.
These spaces boast professional realism, with layouts and infrastructure that reflect real industry conditions rather than school-scale simulations.
Smaller CTE spaces co-exist with academic programs.
The school’s Health Assisting spaces are located near science classrooms to support interdisciplinary connections.
