Project Statement

The Don Tyson School of Innovation Phase 2 for Springdale Public Schools is a 182,000 square feet expansion of the original 2016 facility. The second phase expands on and completes the original vision of a comprehensive career and technology focused high school. Anchored around a 2.4 acre keystone shaped courtyard, the design allows students and staff to actively use the secure outdoor campus for dining, outdoor learning, and exercise.
The primary axis connecting the new east entrance to the courtyard is defined by the distinctive “red wall”. This central hub connects students to each other, to digital technology, to the adjacent arts programs, and to the academic programs on the second level. The layout blends open and enclosed learning spaces carefully balancing open collaborative learning with the need for acoustic separation for specific programs.

The curving north-south spine of the building leads to the career education center with its high demand culinary, agribusiness, industrial technology, welding, and diesel technology labs. Wherever possible, glass storefront is used to maximize natural daylight and showcase these innovative educational programs. The project team embedded these programs in the heart of the campus to help counteract longstanding biases against career education.

The south end of the campus is punctuated by the 1200 seat Pat Ellison Performing Arts Center. A state-of-the-art Acoustic Enhancement System extends the performance hall’s natural reverberation time to create a custom sound profile for different performances. Complementing the acoustics are programmable color-changing LED house lighting which students can use to create an immersive sensory experience for audiences. Architecturally, the audience chamber is paneled with vertical wood grained strips intended to evoke a dense forest. A random number sequence was used to determine the panel widths to maximize the sense of ordered chaos.