Riverhead High School

Following voter approval of the $78.4 million bond issue to finance expansions, renovations and infrastructure improvements at the Riverhead Central School District, BBS delivered the phased expansion and renovation program at eight (8) of the District’s sites. The program encompassed seven schools and the main campus. Retained in 2012, BBS served as the District’s architect, interior designer, construction administrator, civil engineer and MEP engineer.

For nearly two decades, the land usage of the Riverhead area has been shifting from primarily agricultural to a mainly residential one. This shift, accompanied by the housing boom of the mid 2000’s, had resulted in an unforeseen acceleration of young families moving into the area. Since, the Riverhead Central School District has been not only facing overcrowding issues, but also a simultaneously aging infrastructure with many of the schools’ facilities dating back to the 1920’s and 1930’s. One of the primary goals of the District was to eliminate the temporary portable classrooms, which had begun to populate the campuses as a short-term solution for the rapidly increasing student enrollment.

At $32.5 million, the largest portion of the improvement program was the expansion and renovation of the Riverhead High School. The high school budget encompassed $22.2 million in spatial needs work, $8.7 million in facility improvements and $1.6 million in site upgrades. The school received a $12-million, 30,000-square-foot, two-story addition, which houses a new main entry, four Advanced Science classrooms, four science classrooms, and main, guidance and administrative offices. The majority of the offices in the existing building were moved to the school building addition, opening up space in the original building for more educational programming.

The Riverhead High School, Riverhead Middle School, and Phillips Avenue Elementary are adjacent to each other and collectively form the main campus with shared athletic and sports facilities, including support infrastructure. The $1.6 million in improvements to the main campus included construction of a new, 1,200-seat home-team bleacher bank, separate 250-seat visitor bleachers, resurfacing of a running track, repairs to the tennis courts and improvements to both the girls softball and boys baseball fields.

Project Facts

Awards

  • 2016 Outstanding Project Award, Learning By Design.
  • 2016 American School & University Magazine’s Architectural Portfolio – Outstanding Design Award.