Freedom High School Locker Removal

Chantilly, VA

 

Size:

2,800

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The use of the traditional school lockers lining the halls of high schools in Loudoun County has dropped off significantly in recent years. Each year students submit if they want to be issued a locker and less than 20% of the students take the school system up on the offer. This has left existing schools with a large inventory of unused lockers. Coupled with tight corridors and a lack of break out collaboration space we searched synergies to solve both issues together.  Samaha’s design removes numerous banks of existing lockers and in their place installs a variety of built in solid surfacing bench and standing height counter-tops. A portion of both the seating and counter-top areas were made ADA compliant. To limit the extent of construction the existing concrete locker base under counter-tops was covered with a rubber stair tread to serve as a footrest. Where the lockers were removed the existing masonry was anticipated to include un-struck mortar joints. We selected options of tile and large format laminate wall covering to add some visual dynamics to an originally stark transitional space. The counter-tops were limited to projecting beyond existing masonry wing walls by only 2” to maintain the required corridor egress width. The final solution serves as the construction documents for the first two schools and the prototype for high schools across the county wishing to employ the new concept.