Faced with an aging and overcrowded school facility fast reaching the end of its useful life, the City of Stamford turned to Amenta Emma, in conjunction with the SLAM Collaborative, to design a new Westhill High School that would stand as a dynamic, state-of-the-art academic environment for generations to come. As a comprehensive public high school, Westhill has one of Connecticut’s largest enrollments at nearly 2,500 students who represent a diverse mix of cultures. The 512,000 gross square foot new school will create a vibrant hub for learning and development and contain high-performance spaces for instruction, the arts, and athletics that foster connection and community.

With Amenta Emma as the lead designer on the exterior and interior core spaces, the project’s most significant challenge was creating the footprint and form of a freestanding structure on the existing Westhill property that allows continuous operation of the existing school through the duration of construction. In Collaboration with Stamford stakeholders, the OPM, and CM, the Amenta Emma / SLAM team developed the new building, athletic fields, parking, and access drives that fits like a jigsaw puzzle on the 32-acre campus. With sustainability as a central focus across the design, the school is targeted to achieve LEED Gold. Construction commenced in Spring 2026 with planned occupancy of the new school for the 2029/2030 academic year.