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North Kansas City High School Renovation

A transformative renovation of an existing high school campus, focused on education and equity to ensure every student achieves their unique potential

Information

Location Kansas City, Missouri
Size 240,000 SF

The North Kansas City School District selected BNIM’s multidisciplinary team of architects, planners, landscape architects, and interior designers to transform its beloved North Kansas City High School into an innovative, modern learning environment. To create an educational experience that supports the next generation of students, the renovated North Kansas City High School is deeply rooted in pedagogy, flexibility, and sustainability. With every design decision, the question was posed, “How does this benefit the students?” Space changes reflect these attributes and design processes through an increase in accessibility, community, and gathering spaces. The school also received large-scale infrastructural updates in an effort to create equitable campus facilities, spaces and resources, as compared to similar-scale regional and district high schools.

Impact + Innovation

North Kansas City High School has a rich history, strong community identity, and exemplary academic performance. It is also the center for the district’s model International Baccalaureate (IB) and English Language Learners (ELL) programs. The 90-year-old school is highly revered by the district and community as a defining element of North Kansas City’s identity. The school’s transformation capitalizes on such aspects while strengthening its community value and fostering the reimagined vision to transition the campus into a hub of learning and activity that will continue to support the educational aspirations of the North Kansas City School District. To achieve such a vision, the district and design team set goals of LEED Platinum and Net Zero Energy + Water. The design employs natural daylight in regularly occupied spaces and maximize solar harvesting via an expansive rooftop PV array system. The team identified other goals to strengthen the surrounding community through sustainable measures, including: repairing local hydrology through thoughtful development and regenerative landscape and stormwater harvesting and reuse practices; integrating groundwater with the building mechanical energy system; and creating campus public spaces that can complement and enliven adjacent properties.

Process

BNIM worked closely with North Kansas City project stakeholders and coordinated with the project team and construction manager to ensure every decision contributed to the success of the project by benefiting the students and their community. Through the programming process, BNIM met with students, faculty, and other project stakeholders to set goals of the renovation and determine how to best serve the existing needs of Northtown while remaining flexible and adaptable for the future. Design considerations included safety and accessibility for all students, meeting broad programmatic needs, and achieving sustainability goals through creative and innovative solutions.