Marysville STEM Early College High School

Inspired Design Furnishes Students with Tools for Success, Showcases Community’s Education Investment

The Marysville, Ohio Exempted Village School District engaged OHM Advisors to design a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) high school using a vacant school building. Our architectural design team was tasked with creating a new learning space to accommodate teaching for the future—where student-led, project-based learning involving hands-on problem solving and collaboration happens daily. We worked closely with the school district and its partners Honda, Otterbein University, High Point Career Center, and Columbus State Community College to understand the goals for the school’s high-tech engineering and healthcare-focused curriculum. Then, inspired by the “four Cs” of 21st century learning, we set about transforming the traditional “cells and bells” school into an innovative environment that supports the critical paradigm shift taking place in educational facility design today.

The final design fosters critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. It synthesizes feedback from partners with the stated needs and desires of the school’s students and educators. It melds natural daylight with glass walls for transparency and connectivity. Flexible learning spaces, like small classrooms and shared spaces with reconfigurable furniture and a bright color scheme, are supported by state-of-the-art technology, promoting teaching and learning adaptability. The evolved educational facility is shared with the whole community—from outside passersby engaged through the glass walls, to the students learning within, to community members accessing it for adult education and training programs.

Project Highlights: architecture, education, STEM, high school, 21st century design, student-centered learning, renovation, interior design