Society

Hector Garcia Middle School is located in the North Oak Cliff neighborhood, three miles southwest of downtown Dallas.

Hector P. Garcia Middle School, Dallas, TX

Located in near southwest neighborhood of Dallas, Texas Hector P. Garcia Middle School was designed to connect students to the community and the larger city beyond its walls.

Completed in 2007, this new school is one of 68 middle schools in the city and serves 1,200 students in grades 6 - 8. A running track, softball fields, outdoor basketball courts, and soccer fields serve the neighborhood as well as the students. While the school's gym, library, and auditorium are accessible to community residents in the evenings.

Built across two city blocks, on land that once held used car lots and auto repair shops, the 175,000 square foot school building doesn't look like a typical middle school.

Building Statistics

School name
Hector P. Garcia Middle School

Client
Dallas Independent School District

Location
Dallas, TX

Grade levels
Grades 6 - 8

Number of students
1,200 students

Building size
175,000 square feet

Previously on this site
several empty lots, used car dealerships, and car repair shops

Architect
Perkins + Will Architects. Dallas, TX

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
silver certification

Timeline / Project schedule
building completed 2007

Hector Garcia Middle School

Hector Garcia Middle School is located in the North Oak Cliff neighborhood, three miles southwest of downtown Dallas

Hector Garcia

The school was named after Hector Garcia, a Mexican-American civil rights activist, doctor, and WW II veteran from south Texas.

Built for Access

The gymnasium and locker rooms have access to the athletic fields.

Night Elevation

Louvers of steel designed around the cafeteria help to shade the hot afternoon sun.

Place-Based Learning

The library and most of the classrooms were designed to have views of downtown Dallas.

Meet the Architects

Perkins + Will began in Chicago in 1935 and was founded by architects Lawrence Perkins and Philip Will. Today the firm has offices in 24 cities around the world. Hector P. Garcia Middle School was designed out of the firm's Dallas office.

Perkins + Will has designed over 100 sustainable buildings that have been LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified.

Typical projects for the firm include: educational buildings, hospitals, science and technology centers, athletic facilities, multi-family residential buildings, and urban planning projects.

Study The Construction Drawings

Attachment