The Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy — the first custom-designed early college high school in Texas built independent of a college campus — is the kind of school most people only talk about.
Sited approximately eight miles south of downtown Dallas on a greenfield adjacent to a nature preserve, Gilliam looks and acts like a college campus. The program spaces are articulated as separate buildings that surround a central, two-story commons area, or collaboration plaza. The plaza serves as a flexible, multifunctional space that includes cafeteria seating and can accommodate large group events.
Lighting was fundamental to the interior design concept at Gilliam, and the architects sought to give the inside of the building an outdoor feeling. This was achieved by making daylight the primary light source throughout. The use of light and space makes an otherwise simple parti a very porous, layered experience, with visual access between and through the spaces.
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