Wallace Design Collective

Tuttle, Oklahoma, is a growing community located 30 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The Tuttle Public School system has experienced an influx of new students, growing 36% over the last ten years. In 2015, the citizens of Tuttle passed a $25 million bond issue to address the need for new facilities to help alleviate the strain on existing ones.

The new Tuttle High School was the centerpiece of the 2015 bond issue. Designed to initially accommodate 530 students, the new 120,000 square foot, two-story high school building houses 18 traditional classrooms, five science labs, two special education classes, two dedicated computer labs, an art room, band room, choir room, weight room, FACS lab, concurrent enrollment lecture hall, and a wrestling floor which also serves as a 922-occupant, precast concrete safe room. Feedback from the school’s staff during initial design showed that they valued space for collaboration, leading to gathering the public elements around a Commons/ Cafeteria at the main entry. Interior and exterior clerestory windows connect the Commons to the adjacent Media Center. Numerous study-nooks are carved into the main thoroughfares which intersect at the central stair and elevator core where other communal spaces like the open computer lab and teachers’ workroom are focused.

Photos: ©Simon Hurst Photography