With the right attention, old schools can unlock a brighter future anchored in tradition

While starting from scratch with a new building is often the go-to approach, preserving at least a portion of an existing school for renovation and expansion can be the smarter move. For one, it preserves a building’s historical and cultural significance. It also has environmental benefits, reducing waste associated with the older structure’s demolition while minimizing the amount of energy needed for the modernization effort. And in some cases, choosing to renovate and expand can also unlock regulatory incentives and reduce infrastructure and construction costs.

Here we examine three schools that opted to breathe new life into aging structures, simultaneously honoring the past, protecting the planet, and preparing for the future.

Belmont, Massachusetts

Renovating an existing fieldhouse and other athletic facilities allowed the community of Belmont, Massachusetts, to keep a popular swimming pool. The Massachusetts School Building Authority will not fund any project that includes a new swimming pool, so leaders opted to renovate the fieldhouse and its pool rather than try to replace them without commonwealth funding. “The community definitely didn’t want to lose the pool,” says Bill Lovallo, who serves on the town’s Permanent Building Committee. “It’s a big asset.”

The renovated fieldhouse now anchors a Y-shaped school complex, with two new wings housing Belmont Middle and High School. Students at both schools share the athletic facilities, which are also open to the public. “The fieldhouse isn’t only for athletics,” Lovallo says, adding that it accommodates performing arts programs, rallies, and commencement ceremonies in case of inclement weather. Local recreation programs use the fieldhouse’s large and small gyms for volleyball and other indoor sports, and the swimming pool is open for public lap swims and swimming and diving competitions.

Columbus, Ohio

With its steeply pitched roofs, distinctive chimneys, and gabled windows, the Grandview Heights High School building is beloved by the people in the Columbus area. “The alumni, current students, and community felt strongly that the building needed to be renovated, and it was really important to maintain the existing iconic facade,” says the school’s superintendent, Andy Culp. But its interior had undergone multiple renovations over the decades and needed a comprehensive update.

By renovating the high school and constructing a new middle school to adjoin it, the design team was able to efficiently plan shared program elements and improve circulation for both schools. The new middle school’s exterior echoes the existing high school by matching its brick coloration, window patterns, roof pitch, and decorative chimneys. The interiors are similarly unified, with classrooms around shared student commons arranged adjacent to centrally located cafeterias, libraries, the auditorium, and administrative offices. Consolidating the buildings also freed up green space for a playground, playing field, and landscaped green space.

St. Louis, Missouri

Lindbergh High School in St. Louis also reused a large portion of its existing campus. Although some buildings were torn down, others were renovated with energy-efficient, collaborative learning spaces organized around a new boomerang-shaped central building. “When you walk through LHS today, it is very difficult to tell which areas are old and which are new,” says Dr. Tony Lake, superintendent of Lindbergh Schools. “Creating that unified feel throughout the building was one of our goals.”

The addition connects arts, athletics, and academic spaces in the newly repurposed buildings, which have been updated with state-of-the-art windows, equipment, and finishes. A new library is adjacent to the lobby at the heart of the addition. The high school’s former circular library building is reimagined as the “Idea Center,” which serves as a learning space for gifted students in grades K-5 from around the district. “The old library was originally slated for demolition, but the community quickly made it known that this beloved piece of the campus should be kept and repurposed,” Lake says.