Honoring Legacy While Planning for the Future
Lessons from the Transformation of Lanphier High School
By Todd Cyrulik
Across Illinois, school boards are increasingly asked to make thoughtful, accountable decisions about aging facilities, often while balancing limited resources, evolving educational needs, and deep-rooted community expectations. At BLDD Architects, we regularly see how these challenges intersect.
The transformation of Lanphier High School in Springfield SD 186 stands as a powerful example of how design, guided by community values and disciplined planning, can help districts modernize facilities while honoring the legacy that made them important in the first place.
Originally constructed in 1937, Lanphier High School has long served as a cornerstone of Springfield’s North Side. For generations, the building at the corner of 11th Street and North Grand Avenue has represented opportunity, pride, and continuity. When we first began working with the district, we quickly learned that Lanphier was more than a school; it was a symbol of neighborhood identity. That understanding shaped every decision we made as designers.
Over time, the campus had grown into a complex and inefficient facility. Decades of additions, including a former middle school annex and athletic expansions, had stretched the building across nearly a quarter mile and created 14 different floor levels. Narrow corridors, inconsistent elevations, and inaccessible areas were common. Programs were scattered, classrooms were underutilized, and students often had to navigate long, confusing routes between classes. The original front entrance and intended auditorium had been lost to time, replaced by a dark and uninviting secondary entry with a low ceiling. It offered little sense of arrival.
From the outset, our role was not simply to solve these problems, but to help the district rediscover the essence of Lanphier and translate it into a facility that could serve students for decades to come.
Community Pride as a Design Foundation
Early conversations with district leadership, alumni, educators, and community members made one thing clear: Community pride in Lanphier’s history was not optional; it was foundational. Our team often reflected on how deeply personal these conversations felt. Stories of generations attending the school, memories tied to the original Art Deco façade, and the building’s role as a North Side landmark all reinforced the responsibility we shared as designers.
Through this engagement process, four guiding objectives emerged that became touchstones for the project:
- Embrace Traditions,
- Create a Heart,
- Repair Connections, and
- Develop Cohesion
These principles helped ground design decisions in shared values, particularly when difficult tradeoffs arose.
Honoring tradition meant restoring prominence to the original 1937 building rather than allowing it to remain overshadowed by later additions. We worked closely with the district to reestablish the west façade and 11th Street approach as the primary entry sequence. For students and visitors alike, this decision reconnected daily life at Lanphier to the building’s historic presence and restored a sense of dignity to the school’s front door.
The Challenge and Value of Working with the Historic Footprint
The challenge was to transform this sprawling, outdated facility into a compact, accessible, and welcoming modern school, while also incorporating program spaces for athletics and performing arts. Restoring community pride and honoring the original 1937 architecture was the cornerstone of the visual and spatial design solution.
We first focused on reorganizing the original building itself. This meant reorganizing the campus from 14 levels to six and wrapping academic programs around a central core. By doing so, we were able to dramatically shorten travel distances. Today, no academic space is more than 300 feet from the building’s heart.
The design challenge forced us to confront decades of incremental decisions that no longer served students or staff. Some awkward additions were removed or reconfigured, while materials and artifacts from historic spaces were salvaged and reintroduced elsewhere. These gestures allowed us to preserve the stories embedded in the building while creating a more efficient and accessible environment.
This process reinforced an important lesson: Constraints, when paired with clear goals, can lead to better outcomes. The design goals sharpened priorities, reduced excess, and ultimately resulted in a more cohesive and cost-effective solution.
Creating a New Heart for the Campus and Community
At the center of the reimagined Lanphier is a new Commons that functions as both a physical and symbolic heart of the school. Our team and the district envisioned this space as a shared destination, one that would welcome students, staff, families, and community members alike.
The Commons now serves as the main gathering space, dining area, and event lobby. It supports everything from daily student interaction to large-scale performances and athletic events. With three levels of visual connection and abundant natural light, the space reinforces openness, safety, and community presence.
Surrounding circulation spaces were intentionally designed to support learning beyond the classroom. Wide corridors now function as extensions of instructional space, incorporating student storage, collaboration zones, and informal seating. Breakout areas and connecting learning stairs are positioned between departments, encouraging interaction and making student learning visible.
The design also elevates student experience with significant enhancements to performing arts and athletics, both branching from the central Commons. A dedicated auditorium and rehearsal suite now anchor the fine arts wing, and expanded athletic facilities include new competition and practice venues, training areas, and secure entries — all reinforcing the campus’s role as both a community gathering place and a center of student life.
Cohesion Between Past and Present
Blending a 1930s Art Deco structure with modern educational environments required a careful and respectful approach. Our design strategy focused on creating continuity without imitation. Over 20 unifying exterior band lines were employed to stitch together decades of construction styles. Innovative masonry and precast detailing create continuity between past and present, while thoughtful use of color and texture brings purpose and vibrancy to each space. The once-forgotten historic main entry was reestablished, aligned with a new welcoming lobby that now serves as the central interface for students, visitors, and spectators.
Inside the building, original details and textures are preserved and celebrated, while new spaces reflect the warmth and durability of the historic structure. Our design sought to emphasize the importance of equitable quality throughout the building. Whether a space was original, renovated, or newly constructed, it needed to feel intentional and valued.
A restored rear elevation of the original historic building now anchors a three-story atrium that serves as the main circulation core, the central commons. A nearly 200-foot-long skylight floods the space with daylight, improving orientation and reinforcing a sense of connection across floors and departments.
Stewardship, Safety, and Long-Term Value
As designers working with public school districts, we are keenly aware that facility decisions are long-term investments. Sustainability, safety, and operational efficiency were integral to the Lanphier project. Nearly all student-occupied spaces now receive natural daylight, reducing reliance on artificial lighting and supporting occupant well-being.
Comprehensive upgrades to HVAC, lighting, and plumbing systems improve efficiency and reduce long-term operational costs. A rooftop solar array covering approximately 29,000 square feet generates significant on-site energy, reinforcing the district’s commitment to stewardship and resilience.
Safety was addressed through a combination of controlled access points, clear wayfinding, visual oversight, and strategically located secure areas. A tornado-rated storm shelter within the practice gymnasium provides critical protection for large groups during severe weather.
Reflections for School Districts Across Illinois
The transformation of Lanphier High School reaffirmed for us that successful school design begins with listening and is sustained through disciplined decision-making. By honoring community pride, embracing constraints, and focusing on long-term value, the district and design team were able to create a facility that supports contemporary education while remaining deeply rooted in place. The project for Springfield SD 186 transformed a fragmented campus into a cohesive space that reflects the pride, legacy, and aspirations of its diverse and multi-generational community.
For school boards across Illinois facing similar questions about aging facilities, Lanphier offers an important reminder: modernization and preservation are not opposing goals. When guided by shared values and thoughtful planning, they can work together to strengthen both educational outcomes and community trust, ensuring that schools remain meaningful centers of learning for generations to come.