St. Thomas High School, a Catholic, college preparatory school for young men in grades 9-12, focuses on teaching goodness, discipline and knowledge in the tradition of the Basilian Fathers. St. Thomas High School closed on the acquisition of an 11-acre tract of land adjacent to their current campus at 4500 Memorial Drive. As part of an ongoing relationship with Kirksey, they hired us to conduct facilities assessments and master plan the two campuses, with the goal to unite the campuses into a state-of-the-art secondary education campus.
The 2007 master plan, also completed by Kirksey, included renovations of some existing buildings and the addition of four new structures, including a 6-level parking garage. Kirksey completed the new 427-car garage in 2012, which was designed to absorb the ever-growing student and visitor population for the high school and sporting events. It was important to give the parking garage an aesthetically pleasing facade since the school is prominently located two miles west of downtown Houston. Additionally, the parking garage needed to blend with the existing school environment and not stand out as just a large parking structure.