Set within Cleveland’s rapidly evolving Detroit Avenue corridor linking Hingetown, Gordon Square, and Ohio City, Garrett Morgan High School is conceived as a public anchor amid intense private development. The design team worked closely with civil and landscape partners to shape a streetscape of permeable surfaces, future bike paths, and ADA-forward moves, while integrating layered security, lighting, and technology that keep the building safe yet openly welcoming. Exterior metal panels and generous glazing echo the energy and shifting waves of nearby Lake Erie, replacing the heavy massing of the former Max Hayes High School with a lighter, more transparent civic presence. A rhythm of brick, glass, and blue panels extends along Detroit Avenue to animate the sidewalk and encourage street life activity. Orienting the prominent media center toward the Shoreway, with speckled glass and a student plaza, invites dialogue, creativity, and community use. The academic bar shapes the urban edge and, together with an overhead walkway, opens a visual seam from street to lake, preserving long views and permeability through the site. 

At the corner, the gym and support spaces anchor the composition with contemplative landscape rooms and outdoor learning terraces. Interiors carry a vibrant spectrum of blues with subtle orange accents and a pixelated motif that recalls the media center’s façade. More than a school, GMHS is a platform for STEM education, arts engagement, and neighborhood stewardship; grounded in pride, integrity, responsibility, leadership, and collaboration, designed to adapt as public education evolves with adult learning, night programs, and career-forward pathways.