Project Data:

Completion Date:     9/10/2021

Square Footage:      22000

Building Use:           CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION BUILDINGS

Design Architect:      Westgroup Designs, Inc.

Project Description:

Located in the small farming community of Fillmore, California, and built over half a century ago, existing facilities at Fillmore High School featured educational spaces and equipment that could not adequately support state Career Technical Education curriculum standards for Agricultural Mechanics, Agricultural Sciences, and Transportation pathways. The decision was made to demolish existing facilities to house new program spaces totaling 22,000 GSF, where students obtain industry-recognized certifications and be well-prepared to enter the workforce or postsecondary education.

In order to refine the curriculum and the space requirements of the new facilities, District stakeholders and the design team met with parents, teachers, school career counselors, associated industry leaders, community college partners and ROCP providers, including representatives of the Ventura County Office of Education, California Agricultural Teachers Association, Future Farmers of America, Ventura College, National Automotive Technicians Educational Foundation, Automotive Youth Educational System, Snap-On Tools, and Toyota's T-TEN technician training program. The resulting solution maximizes the available site area to create two buildings, each tailored to their specific CTE programs, while creating a shared courtyard space that connects campus and community.

Supporting the Agricultural Mechanics and Agricultural Science CTE pathways is a 13,000 GSF, 2-story classroom building located on the west side of the courtyard. The ground floor features spaces for digital fabrication technologies, and more traditional wood and metal shops, with the latter supported by a shared standard classroom. The cylindrical plan of the classroom dynamically intersects with the two tubular skylight-lit, double-height shop spaces while also engaging the exterior courtyard. The exterior of the cylindrical classroom form is clad with corrugated metal, harkening to the architectural language of traditional agricultural structures such as grain silos, while providing a pedestrian-scaled, focal point for the courtyard and clear wayfinding to the two shop spaces.
Engaging the south end of the courtyard space is a tiered-stadium seating and circulation element that visually terminates at a 2nd floor greenhouse space. The location of the greenhouse maximizes solar exposure, supports the adjacent Agricultural Sciences classroom, and acts as a visible symbol to the community of the educational program housed within.

On the east side of the courtyard is a 9,000 GSF, 1-story classroom building supporting the Transportation CTE pathway with student restrooms for both buildings accessed via the courtyard. This building features an Engine Lab Classroom space and an Auto Repair Lab, featuring 4 lift bays and one alignment bay with direct vehicular access to service bays provided by an existing perimeter drive loop that defined the project site limits and was maintained for both campus fire access and shop material delivery purposes.
The architecture of both buildings and the landscaping of the shared courtyard space, utilizes materials that balance long-term maintenance needs, with a scale and warmth sensitive to the 1st Street residential homes to the south, while fulfilling the District’s mission to deliver a cutting-edge CTE educational facility for the students, teachers and broader community it will serve.

AIA Framework for Design Excellence Categories:
Design for Equitable Communities – Serving an economically-challenged locale, the design team engaged with community, industry and education stakeholders to create a facility that honors the agricultural and blue-collar roots of Fillmore with a facility that supports and celebrates the CTE programs housed within.