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Architects: CannonDesign, Hepner Architects
- Area: 180000 ft²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Christopher Barrett
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Architect of Record: Hepner Architects
Text description provided by the architects. Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation (KRAI) represents a radical new approach to fueling innovation and economic investment. Guided by input from the suburban Tampa community, the high school was designed to be a vessel of impact for students and the local economy. It offers an advanced Career Technical Education (CTE), focusing on interactive learning that teaches skills more than theory—arming students with the competencies needed to successfully transition from high school to careers, or into college and beyond.
Showcasing strategic siting and stunning architecture, the school features various spaces engineered to foster an inspiring, collaborative, and safe learning environment. Academic cluster spaces—which house CTE courses that align with the specific needs of the local economy—are partitioned by glass walls throughout the ground floor. This transparency facilitates activity-based learning and allows for an enhanced connection between the students and career courses. The result is interdisciplinary learning, deeper understanding, and most of all, choice.
The school’s striking main entry is inspired by the great space of “The School of Athens” and vernacular architecture, defining a grand “front porch” perched above the natural wetland below. Featuring an expansive courtyard design, the building creates an inner ring of exterior circulation that creates a natural breezeway through the center—a signature feature also modeled after the vernacular houses of the 19th century. Quite literally, KRAI was designed to be a “cool” school.
The two-story building is organized in layers to enhance safety. Situated in the middle of a 150-acre site, the school’s placement creates a natural barrier to slow or prevent the advancement of external threats. With a single point of entry on the ground floor, compartmentalized spaces, and outdoor-only exits from every room on the first floor, the building offers security that allows students to feel free to learn and participate in the school community.
Over the past decade, we have seen a paradigm shift regarding the goal and value of a high school education. Some students may enroll in college immediately following high school graduation, while others may choose to enter the workforce. KRAI was designed to encourage students to choose the path that is best for them. As a new school that draws students from across the county to study a range of subjects, KRAI fosters natural connections between students and the community.
