Perched atop a former mountaintop removal coal mining site, Southern Gap High School reclaims a scarred Appalachian summit and transforms into a community anchor rooted in resilience and regional pride. This building consolidates four existing school buildings so that all students have access to the same high-quality resources, regardless of geography or socioeconomic background. The result is a bold civic gesture: a building that shelters learning while symbolizing a new shared identity rising from a deeply storied landscape.

The Southern Gap campus reimagines its extracted landscape as one of vision, community, and care. The building’s architectural parti draws directly from Buchanan County’s cultural and geological roots. A strong central spine clad in brick evokes the long, linear tunnels of coal mines and connects all the building’s primary functions. Metal-clad volumes that intersect the brick spine draw inspiration from the local architectural industrial heritage. These wings house specialized programs such as athletics, performing arts, and engineering, each framed as sites of purposeful activity and cultural continuity.

Inside the school balances industrial references with warmth and inspiration. Wide corridors open to framed views of the surrounding ridgelines while small nodes along circulation routes offer spaces to display student work and foster informal collaboration. In a community where sports have long been central to school identity and rivalry, the new consolidated athletic facilities provide a shared arena for competition and celebration. Throughout, the design honors the ethos of a region built on craftsmanship, perseverance, and place-based knowledge.