Raisbeck Aviation High School provides state-of-the-art education. Anchored beneath the daily flight patterns at Boeing Field and adjacent to the Museum of Flight, this three-story, 86,000 square-foot STEM- based school offers nearly endless opportunities. A uniquely innovative learning environment prepares students in the fields of aviation, aerospace and related disciplines through highly interactive, project-based learning.
 
The building structure consists of three levels of steel framed construction. The Mechanical Penthouse roof is supported by the signature curved steel beams that mimic the form of a fuselage. Additional features include the slanted steel columns to the north, the “swoosh” or wing wall at the east terraces, 60’-long castellated beams and 8 ½” composite acoustical Epicore deck over the Commons. Below grade, the foundation was designed to resist the additional forces associated with the potential of lateral spreading of the site soils. The building sits atop 4’-deep concrete pile caps over 90’-deep driven steel pipe piles in order to mitigate the effects of liquefiable soil. A coordinated 3D model was utilized to provide a flexible, open floor plan with viewing terraces and community spaces to meet the schools highly interactive, project based learning style.
 
photograph Exterior 1 by Benjamin Benschneider Photography
photography by Janette Ryan