As part of a master-planning exercise, the CDH worked with the client to merge the Greenfield Hebrew Academy and the Yeshiva Atlanta High School campuses, establishing the newly formed Atlanta Jewish Academy. With this multi-phased construction plan to include a variety of classrooms and laboratories, faculty areas, a beit midrash, and a new gymnasium, the merged campuses were planned to work as one day school.

The site’s buildable area was a major challenge to provide a competition athletic field and appropriate water detention. The residential zoning regulations restricted the height of the buildings, therefore the site was quickly reaching its total buildable area without additional costs. The client’s desire was to plan for future expansion, therefore the high school’s structure was designed to allow for a third level to be added in a future phase. The construction was steel structure with insulated metal panel exterior walls, brick and storefront, with a reflective white TPO roof. The phase two gymnasium is a premanufactured metal building with some areas with steel structure, stucco siding, brick and storefront.

The nearly 20,000 sf multi-purpose high school building provides many different environments for use. There are a combination of classroom and laboratory spaces, which allow instruction on physics, biology and chemistry. The Academy’s faculty promote interaction with students outside the traditional instructional space which was one the design directives for the commons area on the main level. The Beit Midrash has a Etzel Hayim for the Sefer Torah, a prescribed divider and storage for kippas and shawls. For the Jewish education program, the Beit Midrash is a study hall that is specifically used for the study of the Torah. The design brings attention to this room with interior glass partitions adjacent to the commons area and naturally grazed walls from the southern sun through the recessed windows where the exterior wall panels overlap.

The client’s budget and fast-tracked schedule also challenged the entire team to design efficiently and cost effectively at each step. Our continuous communication with the client was vital to this project. The coordination by all parties involved provided beautiful new instructional and gathering space for the Academy.