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By Eric Althoff

ORLANDO—General contractor Balfour Beatty has completed work on Lake Highland Preparatory School’s Porter Family Center for Innovation & Academics, designed by SchenkelShultz Architecture. The 14-month-long, 71,000-square-foot project replaces the campus’s former Johnston and Hale Halls.

The first floor features the school’s new student center, which includes the Scott Family Commons, Kind Family Library and Vivar Student Union. Administrative offices and counseling centers are also on the ground floor. The building is home to the Innovation Institute and Carmany Family Innovation Hub, a two-story, makerspace that includes areas devoted to engineering, robotics, computer science, physics and virtual reality. Meanwhile, the third floor contains the Morsi Mathematics Institute, and the fourth floor is the home for the school’s Center for Literary Arts program for coursework in English and language arts. Finally, the top floor features the Starling Gallery for meetings, events and other activities.

On the exterior, the Steinmetz Family Innovation Courtyard and the Jackson Breezeway will take ample advantage of the Florida sunshine and LHP’s location on the lakefront for students and faculty to enjoy.

“We are grateful to our construction partner Balfour Beatty for their outstanding work as general contractor of the Porter Family Center for Innovation & Academics,” Lake Highland President Jim McIntyre said of the work. “Our school’s bold dream to build an academic center unparalleled in our region has come to life, and the remarkable learning and teaching there are producing innovative, talented, and inspired leaders who will change the world.”

“The Porter Family Center for Innovation & Academics is a stunning facility strategically built and designed to promote an enhanced learning experience for students in Central Florida,” added Scott Skidelsky, Balfour Beatty president in the Southeast. “Balfour Beatty is proud to partner with Lake Highland, its donors, and industry partners to deliver this state-of-the-art learning space for the future generations of tomorrow.”