Announcements August 9, 2022

Morrow High School Pushes Design Boundaries in South Atlanta

Completion of the new school reinvents typical high school design in Georgia.

The doors at Morrow High School in Ellenwood, Georgia are officially open, marking a new chapter of growth for the community. Built in partnership with the Clayton County Public School System and Meija Construction, the high school campus includes a new classroom building, gymnasium, and a football stadium that will serve the entire school district.

Inspired by the ridge that runs across the site’s wetland topography, the curving classroom building stretches across the front of the site, providing optimal north-south orientation for classrooms and creating a series of protected outdoor spaces for students and community gatherings. The linear configuration rethinks traditional approaches to classroom building layout to present a unique and inspiring vision of what a high school can be.

Left to right: Keith Curtis, Branded Environments Leader; Jared Serwer, Senior Project Designer; Victor Renteria, Senior Project Architect; Barbara Crum, K-12 Practice Leader; Laura McMullan, Branded Environments Designer

“In this design, we tried to capture a vision for the future of this community that’s dynamic, healthy, and at the forefront of public education,” said Jared Serwer, Associate Principal and Design Lead, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony held on July 28th. “We have worked to develop a design that celebrates the diversity of this community and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration between the sciences, the arts, career education, and athletics.”

The high school will serve more than 2,200 students in Clayton County, representing the community’s diverse population with students from over 30 different countries. Pride for this vast range of nationalities, and for Morrow High School, is displayed with bold color and graphics along corridors and staircases between floors.

Shared facilities will include administrative offices, a cafeteria, and space for the arts on the first floor of the three-story classroom building. On the upper two floors, commons spaces are strategically located at the bends of the building, providing access to natural light and space for socializing, collaborating, and team teaching. By including large windows at every bend of the building’s S-curved shape, our team was able to introduce elements of wellness design with natural light spilling into the center of the facility.

Aerial rendering showcases the classroom building's noteworthy S-curve.

The completion of Morrow High School is the third step of a long relationship with Clayton County, which includes the adoption of a master plan for the site, the completed design and construction of the neighboring East Clayton Elementary School, and ongoing design work for the new Clayton County Convocation Center.

Morrow High School’s first day of school at the new campus was August 3. The project’s final component, the gymnasium building, is scheduled for completion later this fall.

Morrow High School Pushes Design Boundaries in South Atlanta

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