Set amid Rocky River’s car-centric retail corridor and steps from the Rocky River Reservation’s emerald belt, Lutheran High School West’s new Innovation & Commons project stitches an incoherent, decades-grown campus into a clear, walkable place shaped by faith, learning, and community. Responding to rising enrollment and expanding STEM and maker programs, the design unifies old and new while amplifying the school’s mission.

Two distinct front doors clarify identity and arrival,  a Cleveland Lutheran Association entrance expressed in ribbed and smooth metal panels signals a hub for thought, science, and innovation, orienting gently to a small park across the street. A large second-floor picture window from the lecture space frames that landscape as a moment of reflection. The student entrance, in familiar face brick, anchors tradition and welcome, a luminous red cross marks the threshold as a beacon of safety and belonging. Inside, a two-story commons mediates between the busy commercial edge and a quieter academic heart.

An interior walkway resolves historic level changes, opening broad views to a new private courtyard for outdoor instruction and alumni gatherings. A glass-guarded stair, branded in Lutheran West red, binds CLA and student realms, leading to labs, conference rooms, collaboration spaces, and dedicated music and broadcasting suites that extend learning into media and the arts.

Delivered through tight-site logistics, BIM-led coordination, and careful phasing across two municipalities, the project also rationalizes parking and bus circulation while setting the stage for future community-funded additions, including a fitness center with indoor soccer, weight room, and natatorium. The result is a campus re-branded and re-connected; one that complements its context, privileges pedestrians, and advances a faith-centered culture of curiosity and care.