Harrison Hills Wins Silver Citation in the 2020 AS&U Educational Interiors Showcase

SHP is pleased to announce that one of our projects, the new PK-12 school in the Harrison Hills City School District in Cadiz, Ohio was awarded a Silver Citation in the 2020 American School & University Educational Interiors Showcase, the premier competition honoring education interiors excellence. 

The jury selected Harrison Hills as one of the five Silver Citation winners to be featured in the Educational Interior Showcase, commenting that, “colors, materials, furniture, and spaces are indicative of a clear vision and response to the needs of a 21st Century school. Strong visual connections between classrooms and collaboration areas, activated corridors, connected classrooms.”

Harrison Hills City School District’s 216,000sf complex houses all 1,000 students in the district, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. SHP served as the lead architect for the massive project, which began in 2016. The school opened in 2019. 

The complex includes 70 classrooms, 25 small-group and special education spaces, 14 collaborative spaces, two gymnasiums, two cafeterias, an outside eating area and an auditorium. It uses 30% less energy and one-third less water than typical buildings and was constructed with materials that were recycled. In addition, the design team focused on the use of regional materials. For example, the bricks were sourced from the Belden Brick Co, an Ohio-based company. 

The school takes advantage of the surrounding hills and valley with views that usher the outside in for all to experience. With an exterior aesthetic inspired by the region’s rich coal-mining history, interior priorities vary by grade level. 

The new Harrison Hills PK-12 school offers students a whole new learning experience through state-of-the-art technology that allows teachers the opportunity to collaborate. Throughout the facility, learning and collaboration are pulled through unique design features, including: 

• Flexible and fluid classrooms offer operable walls to support multi-class, as well as multi-grade level collaboration. Grade level classrooms cluster around common spaces and Extended Learning Areas (ELAs) provide ample workspace for supervised project-based learning. 
• In the elementary school wing, bright and vibrant colors brand each grade with a unique hue, improving navigation for students.  
• The middle school and high school wings feature natural wood, bright daylit spaces and more refined finishes, mimicking spaces that students will experience as they pursue further training and educational opportunities.  
• A central event corridor opens to the 1,400-seat gym, an 800-seat performing arts center and cafeteria with oversized environmental branding and space to honor the district’s county-wide consolidation and long-standing school histories. 

Congratulations to the Harrison Hills Huskies and our interior design team for their award-winning design!