Basin Celebrates the Opening of a New K-12 Campus

Replacing four separate school buildings that were all nearly six decades old, this new K-12 campus marks a fresh start for Big Horn County School District #4. Unifying the school district school facilities, the new shared campus brings together the area’s K-12 students and teachers into a single location. The new campus includes two separate buildings: Laura Irwin Elementary School, for grades K-5, and Riverside Middle / High School, for grades 6-12.

The new K-12 campus provides a variety of collaborative learning and community environments, including classrooms, breakout learning spaces, a cafetorium in the middle/high school, two gymnasiums, a library/media center, and career & technical education spaces, including a weld shop, wood shop, agriculture lab, and business center. The cafetorium and library/media center are shared spaces between both schools, and were also designed for after-hours community use, providing local groups a large space for gatherings and other meetings.

The school facilities were designed in a contemporary vernacular with reference towards classic school architecture. The exterior palette included concrete masonry and exposed steel structural elements. The two school buildings are organized around a central plaza, with easy access to commons spaces. These entries are marked by sloping roofs and extended canopies, creating a sense of welcome and arrival for the entire community.