Early College High School students will soon have a brand new building to call home. 

Linda Braddy, president of Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, and Briar Glenn, architect and president of Glenn Partners, held a virtual presentation Oct. 1 and showed plans for the building to staff and faculty.

Brookhaven is set to start construction on the new Early College High School building in February 2022. 

The future V Building will be named the Early College Center and will replace the tennis courts on the northeast side of campus. There is still discussion as to whether or not the tennis courts will be relocated, or whether the campus will add a basketball or pickleball court, Braddy said during the presentation.

The ECC is going to be a two-story building with seven classrooms, four science laboratories and five collaboration spaces, as well as outdoor gathering areas, Glenn said. The first floor will have a dining and commons area that supports 300 occupants, as well as a grab-and-go food and drink station.

W Building will be repurposed as the welcome center for the ECC, Glenn said. It will have a new addition and the current classrooms will be renovated to accommodate larger class sizes.

The two buildings will act as a mini campus for high school students. The ECC will give high school students their own space to hang out, Braddy said. It will be convenient for students who have classes elsewhere on campus, she said.

Glenn Partners, an architectural firm in Dallas, is heading up the project. According to their website, they specialize in the building and fostering of educational buildings, having planned more than 5 million square feet of educational spaces throughout Texas.

“We always want to approach new designs with a concept,” Glenn said. “It’s the guiding principle that helps us stay on track as we work through the design. Ultimately, what we came up with is the pathway haven.”

The pathway haven is the idea that the school functions as an inlet, where individuals on diverse pathways converge, creating a haven for fostering growth and developing community.

Certain design eliminations were inspired by the concept such as the easy flow of the layout and a ceiling design which will resemble clouds. The interior color scheme will focus on the blue and silver tones found in the Dallas College brand.

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ECHS students are currently in P Building but will be moved to the new building once it is completed in April 2023, with P Building set to be demolished and replaced by a larger building.

Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District students are currently attending ECHS but once the ECC is complete, Dallas Independent School District will also be bussing their students to Brookhaven campus.  

In addition to the new building and renovations, the City of Addison is funding an Alpha Road connector that will be at the north entrance on campus next to the proposed ECC site. Construction is expected to start in December and be completed in mid-November 2023.

During construction of the new building, vehicles will still be able to access that side of the campus, but part of the W Building parking lot will be blocked off for construction. Employees in the W Building will be moved elsewhere on campus.