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Interior and extrior photography for Grimm & Parker (G+P)

Allegany High School

Cumberland, Maryland

client

Allegany County Public Schools

size

144,000 sf; 850 students

certification

Designed for LEED Silver

type

New Construction

Once known as the oldest continuously operating high school in the state of Maryland, after 93 years of being housed in a dark and outdated building, the students and faculty of Allegany High School arrived to a brand new facility in the Fall of 2018. Built on the site of an abandoned regional hospital, the new school design demanded careful attention to the challenging topography.

Perched atop Haystack Mountain, students enjoy bright, open spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows that frame breathtaking views of Cumberland Valley which extends for miles through the Maryland and Pennsylvania mountains. By incorporating a large retaining wall from the existing hospital, the solution utilized a unique, sectional diagram that engages the surrounding grades at three different building levels, resulting in significant savings in earthwork costs.

Students have the freedom to socialize and collaborate in the open Commons area and media center that feature flexible seating and inviting furniture, while administrators and faculty take comfort in their safety with clear sightlines throughout the building.

Learning Outside The Classroom 

Organized around an interior Student Commons, daylight flows throughout this three-story facility. Transparency, project-based learning, and student-centered spaces were the primary objectives that resulted from early stakeholder engagement.