Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School

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Washington, DC

This new, high-performance school building, LEED Platinum certified, replaces the existing 1977 facility. The design inspiration leans heavily on the Collegiate-Gothic aesthetic of the original school building built in 1917 as the first municipally funded public high school for black students. Its architecture, landscape and renewed public places all contribute to a new, sustainable, civic building that will stand the test of time, not call to mind passing fashion, and will embody the best that the DC Public School system has to offer. The “neighborhoods” or academies provide smaller scale areas where students and teachers can work in groups and create the bonds that underpin a successful education. The concept design provides for a new sense of clarity and purpose for the campus that honors the tradition of the original building. The new, south-oriented entry plaza is approached from New York Avenue and seen from across the existing playing fields of the Dunbar Recreation Center, across N Street. The comings and goings of students, visitors and staff is accommodated in an ample plaza, bathed in morning light and designed to signify the seriousness of purpose of the institution.

• Size: 260,000 SF
• Cost: $120 million
• Design Services: 2011 to 2012
• Construction: 2012 to 2013
  

Note: Architectural services performed by Patrick Williams on this project, were done while an employee of Moody Nolan, Inc.