SMBH

A creative culture of passionate people engaged in innovative structural design.

Portsmouth City Schools

Portsmouth City Schools New Athletic Complex

Location:
Portsmouth, Ohio

Architect:
TSHD Architects

Construction Cost:
$5.8 million

Project Size:
12,000 SF

Portsmouth City School District completed three new schools in 2005. The new high school is located in the downtown district.  The new athletic complex is across the street from the new high school. The complex is located on a 19-acre site and includes a new football stadium, bleachers seating 6,000, a turf field, tennis courts, a baseball diamond, outdoor basketball courts, and a 12,000 SF field house.

Portsmouth City Schools New Athletic Complex

Portsmouth City Schools Portsmouth Downtown Elementary

Location:
Portsmouth, Ohio

Architect:
TSHD Architects

Construction Cost:
$22.8 million

Project Size:
161,536 SF

The Elementary houses 1,000 students in a 161,536 SF building. The facility is multi-story, with the older students on the upper floor and the younger students on the ground level. Common spaces such as the cafetorium and gymnasium are adjacent to the classroom levels so the different grade levels can access them without disturbing other classes. Playgrounds are also separated for age-appropriate activities. The building features an abundance of natural light and energy-efficient systems.

Portsmouth Downtown Elem corner

Portsmouth City Schools Portsmouth Junior / Senior High School

Location:
Portsmouth, Ohio

Architects:
TSHD Architects
and Fanning Howey

Construction Cost:
$25.2 million

Project Size:
182,500 SF

Awards:
School Planning & Management's Education
Grand Prize Award

Portsmouth JR-HS

Portsmouth City Schools passed a bond issue to construct a new Junior/Senior High School to update their facilities and accommodate their growing population. This project was one of three new school buildings the school district constructed as part of the overall project. The square footage of the total project was 390,000 SF, and the total cost for the large-scale project was $55.2 million.

As with many educational projects, the most significant challenge was designing a project that was within budget, functional, and met all of the Ohio School Facility Commission’s (OSFC) programming requirements. In addition, this project had to overcome the obstacle of combining a junior high and high school into one building. Although both schools were in one facility, each area had to be useful for the different grade levels.

This project was extremely important to the design and construction team because most of the contractors on this project graduated from Portsmouth City Schools. They took tremendous pride and ownership in the project, which was one of the factors that led to such a great facility. The Portsmouth Junior/Senior High School became the first OSFC-funded project to receive the Grand Prize from School Planning & Management’s Education Design Showcase. The Grand Prize is awarded each year to the school design that best meets the needs of its educational program.