Atrisco Heritage Academy

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Completion Date: 2008 (Phase I)/2010 (Phase II)
Square Footage: 480,000

Awards:
Award of Excellence - Education, 2010
National Association of Industrial and Office Properties - New Mexico

Best of 2010 Award - K-12 Education
Southwest Contractor

Exhibition of School Architecture Grand Prize, 2009
National School Boards Association

Design Concept Award, 2009
Council of Educational Facilities Planners International

Citation for Design, 2009
Pasadena & Foothill Chapter AIA

Design Award, 2008
AIA San Fernando Valley Chapter

Atrisco Heritage Academy High School on the southwest mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico is a new high school campus striving to preserve the community's past, with an eye toward the future. The 60-acre site is the spearhead of development in the larger, rapidly growing community. The campus architecture and interiors boast colors and murals that represent the unique cultural heritage of the community with a modern bent.

The campus serves the immediate needs of 2,400 students with a planned capacity of 3,100 students. The planning of the school involved the students, staff and community alike. As a result, the campus consists of career academies organized into three distinct buildings. Each academy has planning and activity space internally and externally to promote hands on work. Partnerships with the community create curriculums and facilitate real life experiences that are often hard to come by in a traditional school environment. One such partnership with the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union (NMEFCU) results in a school credit union branch as part of the International Business, Language and Marketing Academy. Other partnerships exist with the University of New Mexico School of Law, New Mexico Hispanic Bar and University of New Mexico School of Medicine and Health and Sciences. The open campus and common areas provide dynamic places for people of all backgrounds to meet and create.