Wheaton Academy Academic Building

Founded in 1853, Wheaton Academy is one of the country’s oldest and most respected private Christian high schools. Their expansive campus serves more than 600 students through top-tier athletics, humanities, arts, and sciences. At its core, Wheaton Academy is committed to building God’s Kingdom, one faithful and well-prepared student at a time.

In recent years, the academy was faced with spaces that failed to live up to the mission. Dated layouts and challenging room configurations were daily barriers and restricting innovation. Teachers and staff recognized the need for environments that inspire innovation instruction and cultivate relationships. After seeing AMDG’s renderings for another school’s capital campaign, Wheaton engaged our team to create a 15-year Master Plan. As the process unfolded, stakeholders began to evolve their thinking from wanting a new standalone building to a plan that would lean into existing spaces.

One of the first challenges was whether to integrate the Academic Building with Academy Hall, an adjacent structure beginning to show its age. After careful consideration, it became clear that removing the aging structure aligned better with the project’s design principles and Master Plan. Today, the re-envisioned Academic Building flows from one dedicated program to the next, attracting students to come together and experience new ways of learning.

A new Business & Innovation Center provides students with tools and environments to test their ideas and solve problems. The two-story space includes a boardroom, stock market-inspired trading room, and dedicated pitch rooms for students to present their ideas. The building also features an Idea Lab, where students can take a hands-on approach to robotics, engineering, research and other student-led student-built projects.

The school’s former multipurpose room, which functioned as a makeshift dining hall, now has new life as a café, teacher’s lounge, and Studio 22—an award-winning video production lab. Finally, what once was an exterior courtyard between the Academic Building and former Academy Hall is now a bustling Student Union—a central hub for socializing, added seating during lunch, and a growing list of school functions.

Woven throughout the space, a series of flexible learning commons encourage the cross-pollination of ideas and learning approaches. These dynamic settings feature moveable furniture, whiteboards, and advanced presentation tools. Other updates include a more visible reception area, giving visitors a feeling of hospitality, while also improving security.

With the first phase of the master plan complete, the result is nothing short of transformative. For teachers who had long desired an interdisciplinary approach to learning, the barriers are gone. The campus flows naturally and opportunities to collaborate abound. At an academy where students are called to be ambassadors for Christ, nothing can stand in their way.