Kelvin High School

Design Characteristics

• This is the second Kelvin School on this site; the first one was opened in 1912 and was finally demolished when the new Kelvin was completed in 1965; the old school was a grand old brick structure named for the Baron Kelvin (1824 1907), a British mathematician and physicist who created the Kelvin thermodynamic temperature scale
• The second Kelvin High was begun in 1963 as an addition in effect to the old Kelvin, and was gradually built up to the point where the new school could stand alone and the old school was demolished, which is an engineering masterpiece
• Similar in design to St. John's School; it is two storeys high, rectangular with a new addition on the east end that is the only real alteration to the original completed sixties design so the building has retained remarkable integrity
• Windows stacked vertically are separated with bright mustard yellow spandrels and alternate with red brick walls for a lively effect on all four elevations
• Special attention was made to the two raised entrance bays opposite each other on the north and south walls; here it turns into a curtain wall of glass panels set between the steel columns which flare at the top; there are two raised staircases leading to two doors at each entrance; these entrances are dramatic both in daylight and at night time and provide a strong visual focus for the school at street level
• The industrial arts facilities are in the basement