A unique vocational school that supports a working farm on campus, Bristol County Agricultural High School has been renovated and expanded to offer a rich curriculum rooted in science and environmental education where all aspects of the design function as a teaching tool for students.
Driven by Bristol Aggie’s culture of hands-on learning, the renewed campus offers students real-world experience with six new and renovated facilities to house its seven vocational programs in agricultural mechanics, animal science, arboriculture, environmental engineering, floriculture, landscape design and natural resource management. Home to various science-based programs, the Center for Science and the Environment is a living learning lab where students support the reintroduction of endangered species, care for domesticated animals, use drones to explore building science, research plant growth on green roofs and curate exhibits in the natural history museum. A new dairy barn on campus showcases robotic milking technology, while the renovated historic Gilbert Hall features a state-of-the-art climbing lab that arboriculture students can utilize year-round.
While the previous layout left both academic and vocational programs fragmented across campus, students, faculty and the community are now united in the Student Commons, a center for activity on campus built of heavy timber framing. The redesign of the campus is logically organized along a central pedestrian spine to establish programmatic adjacencies between related disciplines that will maximize learning opportunities.