Wold Taking on High School Projects Across Minnesota

August 25, 2021August 25, 2021 School News 1891 Views St.Paul, White Bear Lake, Wold Architects and Engineers

By Eric Althoff

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Wold Architects and Engineers of St. Paul has a slate of school construction projects planned, both within the capital region as well as in cities throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Wold is working on renovating older facilities as well as constructing new ones to reduce overcrowding.

Wold’s projects include White Bear Lake High School, to be located in the community also called White Bear Lake, as well as other high schools in Tartan, Oakdale, Owatonna and Mora.

Each of the schools designed by Wold will offer flexible learning spaces (the wisdom of which the covid-19 pandemic has made clear), learning studios and classrooms devoted specifically to technical education.

At White Bear Lake High School, Wold is renovating 285,000 square feet of existing educational space as well working on a 375,000-square-foot addition. When finished, the complement of students that the high school can comfortably house will be over 3,000. A three-story classroom will exist side by side with an 800-seat auditorium, athletics fieldhouse, student commons and specialty laboratories.

The new building, being built by general contractor Kraus-Anderson, will house technical and training programs to help students work toward potential careers in vocational and other courses. The addition is expected to be complete for the fall of 2024.

In addition to White Bear Lake High School, Wold is also working on renovations and upgrades to Tartan and North High Schools (ISD 622), Owatonna High School and Mora High School (ISD 332).

“As a local firm, we are proud to lead the design of these five high schools to ensure that the academic environment is positioned to help students, educators and faculty thrive,” Vaughn Dierks, partner at Wold Architects and Engineers, said in a recent statement. “Each of these school designs has been tailored to the goals of the district, and our team has worked hard to collaboratively create both functional and beautiful spaces that will help accomplish those goals.”