New Bloomfield Hills High School Revealed

The new Bloomfield Hills High School reached a major milestone Thursday as designers and construction officials presented their final schematic for what the new building will look like when ready in 2015.

Representatives from architects SHW Group and construction engineers from Barton Malow showcased both the exterior and interior of the building on the Andover High School site that will house roughly 1,600 students, to the board and members of the public gathered at the Doyle Center. Both Andover and Lahser high schools will officially merge next fall and will be located at the Lahser and Hickory Grove buildings during a two-year transition period.

"It's very exciting now because it’s starting to take shape and look like something," School Board President Ingrid Day said.

See the attached PDF of the schematic design presentation or visit the district's website for the full presentation.

The Highlights:

• The schematic calls for seven 'learning community' centers, where teachers will not longer be fixed to a classroom, but can instead instruct collaboratively with teachers in other classrooms. These areas will have soft-seating and smaller work areas where students can work in groups.
• A multi-level media center located at the heart of the new building with space for 18,000 volumes of books.
• An 800-seat auditorium with a stage, balcony seating and sophisticated sound and lighting equipment.
• Three separate music rooms with ample storage to accommodate the school's choir, orchestra and band programs.
• A new gym with a main performance floor, and three cross-court spaces. It will have 1,700 bleachers and will be connected to new locker rooms.
• A nanotorium with a 12-lane pool, diving wells and seating for 500.
• Energy-saving mechanical systems and more use of natural light.

What's Next?:

A representative with Barton Malow, the district's construction project manager, said the current cost for the project appears to be between two and three percent above budget. Cost increases were expected once the architects began filling in details, but officials with Barton Malow and SHW said they will meet next week and create an updated cost estimate for the board that gets the project back on  budget.

The bid period to begin prepping part of the current Andover High School for demolition should be open in February.

The remainder of construction bids will be opened in May, with recommendations likely to the board for approval in June, officials said.