The 225,000 sq. ft. Gallup High School is a state-of-the-art educational facility containing a hi-tech media center, science labs, technical/vocational shops, fine arts facilities, gymnasium and physical education area, cafeteria, dining hall and classrooms. The school was designed to take advantage of natural light and passive solar influences with all functions housed within one building to minimize student exposure to the extreme weather conditions experienced in the Gallup area and to minimize heating and cooling costs.
The building was designed with sensitivity to the largely Navajo population of the school. The profile of the building scheme symbolizes a mountain range, which in the Navajo belief system represents the “storehouses of knowledge”.