Design team previews Revere High School building and landscape concepts; conservation filing underway

Designers for the new Revere High School presented updated plans and renderings during the Jan. 22, 2025 joint meeting of the Revere High School Building Committee and Revere School Committee, outlining building massing, interior program and an extensive landscape plan that includes wetland replication, outdoor learning spaces and a multi-use courtyard.

The design team described a four-story classroom “bar” on the southern side of the site, a three-story atrium at the main entry, an auditorium and an 18,000-square-foot gym with a walking track. Under-building parking was shown on the plan; designers said occupiable spaces are minimized at low elevations because parts of the site are in a floodplain and the building will be raised to get out of the floodplain.

Landscape architect Emmett Gregory, project manager with Mikyoung Kim Design, said the team proposes a wetland-replication area north of the Eastern County Ditch and a wetland walk with boardwalks and a small outdoor nature classroom sized for typical class groups. “We’re a Boston based landscape architecture firm,” Gregory said during his introduction.

The team presented a palette tied to Revere’s coastal context — two brick tones, phenolic wood accents and two glass tones — and a wave-inspired massing concept intended to reduce the visual length of the building. Interior design themes will follow a coastal/“marsh” transect as a wayfinding device across floors.

Designers highlighted several site features: - Courtyard and outdoor café adjacent to the cafeteria intended for movable seating and school events; graduated outdoor “nooks” and an open lawn that can be used daily and converted to amphitheater seating for larger gatherings. - Two turf fields and five tennis courts on the western side of the campus; a multi-use field and flexible lawn space. - Wetland replication north of the Eastern County Ditch, including boardwalks and an outdoor science classroom for classes of roughly 20–25 students. - Under-building parking with approximately 350 spaces beneath the building and about 300 surface spaces; designers noted the under-building parking area is intended to flood in a major storm so occupiable uses are not planned at those elevations.

Permitting and schedule Project staff said a notice of intent was filed with the Revere Conservation Commission the day of the meeting to place phase 1 site demolition on the commission’s Feb. 5 agenda. The teams plan another joint meeting Feb. 26 with a permitting schedule and cost updates based on the current estimate. Staff indicated demolition of the old site is planned for spring, summer and fall 2025 with structural/foundation construction targeted for approximately August–September 2025.

Security and access Committee members asked about safety in the courtyard and “nook” areas. The design and school staff described a layered approach that includes passive sightlines in the architecture, adult supervision at arrival/dismissal points, card access for staff parking areas and active systems such as interior and exterior cameras, an advanced security and mass-notification system, and zoned lockdown capability controlled through the building management system. Staff emphasized the security design and pricing are part of design development and remain under active review. School committee staff have separately contracted with a security provider to audit security measures across the district and provide a second review of the school design team’s security recommendations.

What’s next Designers said the design-development phase will continue through February, and the committee will receive an estimating, permitting and cost update at the Feb. 26 joint meeting. The design team asked for continued input from the building committee and noted many landscape elements (for example, hammocks or ping-pong tables) are ideas subject to change through further design and pricing.