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Garinger High School
1000 Eastway Drive Charlotte, Mecklenburg c. 1959 Designed
by AG Odell, Jr., and Associates, this is a large school complex of
several detached buildings and open spaces on roughly 63 acres.
Although buildings vary in shape and use, some characteristics are
found throughout. These
include exposed aggregate concrete panels with diamond motifs, diamond
profile fascias, and flat and diamond profile canopies over exterior
walkways. The campus plan is
generally centered around a plaza, the cafeteria, and a circular library
with a conical roof. This
original library has since be converted into class space and a new
two-story media center was added in the 1970s.
The interior integrity of the original round library has been lost.
Several
of the classroom buildings have interior court yards.
Classroom buildings have terrazzo floor, tile mosaics, and some
tile walls. The
cafeteria has a tile mosaic, glass walls, and a metal screen with diamond
shaped designs. The cafeteria
incorporates a sunken area, similar to a residential sunken living room.
Currently seniors sit in this sunken area, known as “The Pit.”
The
ceiling of the gym has been dropped, but it retains its original accordion
form. Gym walls are stack bond concrete block.
All around the gym is a clerestory with windows that crank open
with a motorized system. This high school was surveyed individually because it was one of the larger schools constructed in Charlotte in the post-war period, was designed by a notable architect, and reflected national trends is school planning and design. |
