Orange High School STEM Center
Orange Unified School District
A 2013 facilities assessment rated nearly every building at Orange High School as "poor", initiating a full master planning exercise to envision the future of this historic campus. Community trust was earned before the building was designed. Engagement conducted in both English and Spanish included awareness tours, hands-on planning exercises, prioritization activities, and social media outreach that drew students, staff, alumni, parents, and neighbors into the process. The new $52 million STEM Center is the first major project at OHS in more than 50 years, laying the framework for a full campus transformation.
The 48,000 square foot facility houses 12 spacious, technology-rich labs to support all campus science programs, each sized for up to 40 students and fitted with flexible furnishings that transition easily between lecture, group work, and lab configurations. A two-story entry staircase at Panther Pavilion, the building's large covered front patio, doubles as the ideal venue for the classic egg drop physics experiment. Custom wall murals put science on display throughout, and the orange facade and Panther mascot above the entry make Panther Pride unmistakable. The ground floor also houses a light-filled, flexible learning environment for OHS's medically fragile student program.
The STEM Center is the first phase of a larger campus transformation, with a new Administration Building and community-facing front door already underway, which draws inspiration neighboring Chapman University.
