Cane Ridge High School
In 2019, Barge Design Solutions acquired Nashville-based Gould Turner Group (GTG). Read full article.
Cane Ridge High School was designed as a two-level, comprehensive high school with a projected core enrollment of 2,000 students. Their educational program is anchored by an academic cluster of four “academic houses” each containing classrooms, labs, and administrative offices designed to house an assistant principal and an administrative assistant. These smaller academic units allow for a closer and more integrated learning environment within the larger comprehensive high school.
The “academic houses” are stacked in a double wing configuration for site efficiency. They are supplemented by the career technical education (CTE) wing that is central to all four “academic houses” and contains many of the career academy training high-bay classrooms and labs such as the concrete lab, the HVAC lab, and the cosmetology lab.
The Architecture & Construction Career Academy prepares students for careers in designing, planning, managing, building, and maintaining physical structures such as residential homes. This includes the following career pathways: concrete management, HVAC, electrical, and carpentry. Three separate high-bay laboratories with adjacent classroom spaces support these areas of study.
The various laboratories and classrooms are visually open to the main circulation system. This gives all students who enter the school through the main student entrance a degree of exposure to the various career tracks that are being taught in these CTE classrooms. The public entrance is through the bell tower colonnade and courtyard. The tower is the focal point for the public entrances both to the administrative offices and to the auditorium lobby for public performances. It also serves as a gathering point for students.
From the academic cluster, other core functional groups utilized by the entire student body – such as the technology friendly Library and Media Center, Cafeteria, Computer Center, and the central administrative and guidance areas – are linked along a two-story student mall. There is also a cyber-café located adjacent to the media center on the upper level overlooking the cafeteria and the career guidance center. This arrangement not only offers efficient access from one area to another, but also provides areas for student interaction,
Exterior building materials are principally concrete block with brick veneer exterior and steel truss roof structural systems. The second-floor systems utilized precast concrete planks, reducing construction time. The walls consist primarily of painted concrete masonry units with brick accent trim used in the public areas and the student commons. Most of the ceilings are lay-in acoustic tile.