The Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) and the American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) recognized HMC Architects and Western Placer Unified School District’s (WPUSD) Twelve Bridges High School with a C.A.S.H./AIACC Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Award.

Built on an approximately 56-acre site, the project features two two-story classroom buildings, a single-story science building, an administration building, an athletic stadium and fields, space for performing arts, and staff and student parking. Responding to the site’s existing topography, which featured a 15-foot elevation drop, the design team physically separated the public zones atop the hill from the student zones and the core of the campus below. The two-story classrooms are sited on the lower level appearing as single-story volumes on approach. At the front of the campus approaching from the north, single-story buildings create a noncompeting backdrop for the beautiful existing City Library constructed in 2007, which students will use daily. To study security and safety vulnerabilities, the design team utilized virtual reality with users and local first responders, and the School Resource Officer provided recommendations for sightlines and considerations for access on the multi-level site. The new high school will accommodate the growing neighborhood with room for more than 1,200 students in the first phase and 2,000 students at full buildout.

Since 1991, C.A.S.H. and the American Institute of Architects, California (AIA CA) have held the Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Awards to recognize excellence in school facilities design. The awards were presented at a special ceremony during the C.A.S.H annual conference in Palm Springs, California.