Homewood-Flossmoor High School’s new science wing is offering teachers and students a learning environment that is conducive to all things science – from its large classrooms to its green wall to its environmentally friendly power sources.
The 43,000-square-foot addition to the South Building will be dedicated in a ceremony Tuesday, May 6. H-F is only the second high school in Illinois to have a Net Zero-designed building recognized as one that can supply its own electrical power from solar and heating from 20 thermal wells underground.
“It’s a beautiful space,” Superintendent Scott Wakeley said during a recent tour. “It’s a really cool space. I think it’s going to be used a lot. It’s unique.”
Reed Construction won the bid at $22,998,520 for the science wing. The accepted bid also included another $2.7 million for “all-in” costs for fees, technology, furniture, fixtures, etc. The school board took a $20 million loan for the construction. The remaining costs are being covered by reserve funds.
The sustainability aspects of the building are important. Estimates are that the district will save $82,000 annually in heating, cooling and electrical utility costs. The green aspects of the building fell into the criteria of the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation which awarded District 233 a $2-million grant for its sustainability efforts. The board also received a $40,000 ComEd New Construction Grant, and a $500,000 Illinois State Capital Improvement Grant.
The building is the third major project the District 233 school board has undertaken in the last several years—the new Fine and Performing Arts wing added onto the South Building opened in 2021, the North Building addition of a commercial kitchen and major renovations to culinary, clothing and project design spaces were completed in 2024, and now the science wing will welcome students in August.
“Over the last 5-7 years, the district has been renovating 1-2 science classrooms per year, all that while looking at what their long-term goal would be to meet their curriculum goals,” said Ryan Kelley of DLA Architects when addressing the Flossmoor Village Board for a building permit approval in 2023. “We came to the conclusion that an addition would give them perfectly sized classrooms but also the collaboration space they were looking for.”
It is estimated 75% of the 2,700 H-F students take a science class. The administration has worked to keep equipment current, but the space was lacking. The Next Generation Science Standards recommends classrooms be 45-50 square feet per student. The current space in the South Building’s B-wing averaged only 24-35 square feet per student. The current science rooms are poorly ventilated and lack sufficient access to electrical outlets.
The new science wing will give science teachers the chance to shift instruction from mainly college prep classes, such as biology, chemistry and physics, and expand to include more engineering courses and add a health career curriculum.
With the addition, H-F has 16 classroom/lab spaces that generally are doubled in size from what teachers are currently working in. Furniture is moveable, making student collaboration easier. The design also includes small study rooms between labs where students can meet and discuss projects. Study rooms are easy to pick out because of the privacy shields on the windows – each with a distinct scientific formula.
In keeping with the theme of science and the environment, green and blue are the two primary colors in the building. The floors are polished concrete.
A two-story green wall has 90 planters filled with three different types of green plants — Satin Pothos, Devils’ Ivy and Spider Plant. Each has a water source to keep plants fed, and special grow lights will provide enough light for the plants to thrive. There are also monitors on the first floor that will give students information on the temperature inside and out and how much energy is being used in the building.
The most stunning space in the building is the Learning Common, a two-story atrium. The back wall, painted a vivid green, is decorated with geometric shapes in shades of greens, grays and whites. On the floor are blue lines that are measurement markings for physics classes. The space reaches the second floor through a staggered stairway that allows the space to double as a lecture hall, complete with a drop-down screen. Wakeley said he sees it as a gathering space for students.
The addition also gives H-F an elevator for upper G-Building and the science wing to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The building also provides a direct route to the walking path between North and South Buildings.
Updates for science have been a long-time coming. In 2021, then Superintendent Von Mansfield said administrators gave thought to changes in B-wing for probably 20 years. When the school board finally made the decision to move forward, it looked at six proposals that included gutting B-wing, renovating several spaces or constructing a new 2-story space.
Ed Wright of DLA Architects visited several high schools and had discussions with staff to hear what was essential to improve and enhance science instruction at H-F. He worked closely with teacher Kim Smith who was Science Department chairperson at the time.
Smith has been a teacher at H-F for 27 years. She believes the building will enhance student learning “by offering a modern, purpose-built space designed to support exploration and discovery.” The space is more conducive to collaboration and students will be more actively engaged, plus, the Net Zero building gives “the unique opportunity to observe sustainability in action by tracking the building’s real-time energy use and production,” she said.
Wakeley sees the building moving H-F forward so that future generations of students have access to not only outstanding teaching but facilities with “creative maker spaces and creative curriculum opportunities with CTE (career and technical education), with math, with science because it’s not just taught in isolation. Everything is integrated.”