About

4634 South 74th Street, Tacoma, WA 98409

The district expects Mount Tahoma High School’s new building on 74th Street to be around for a long time. With that in mind, the designers of the sprawling, state-of-the-art facility put in extra effort to make sure that its new façade would be timeless in nature — for the next 50 to 100 years.

Mount Tahoma was designed to increase student achievement and staff effectiveness by creating a personalized learning environment that helps to strengthen the relationship between students and staff. To do that, the school is organized into four independent learning academies, which house 400 to 450 students each.

The new building was designed with the history of the original building, which opened in 1961, in mind. The design included an effective use of daylight, natural ventilation and quality acoustics to enhance the indoor learning environment.

In addition to the new buildings, the construction project added new high-quality athletic facilities. The crowning jewel among those was the new football stadium, which seats more than 5,000 spectators, and has become a go-to site to host high school athletic events in and around the Pierce County area. The three-year project was completed in June 2004.

Mount Tahoma - Rotunda
Mount Tahoma - Outside
Mount Tahoma - Sky Bridge
Mount Tahoma - Gym
Mount Tahoma - Library
Mount Tahoma - Library
Mount Tahoma - Library
Mount Tahoma - Cafeteria
Mount Tahoma - Stadium
Mount Tahoma - Outside
Mount Tahoma - Pool
Mount Tahoma - Front of Building
Mount Tahoma - Front of Building
Mount Tahoma - Courtyard
Mount Tahoma - Main Corridor
Mount Tahoma - Commons

Awards

  • Excellence in Masonry Design Honor Award for 2001 from Masonry Institute of Washington
  • Citation Award for Design from 2009 from AIA Southwest Washington

Project Stats

Bond Issue: 2001
Square Footage: 277,912
Area: 44.6 acres
Capacity: 1800
Cost: $75,037,954
Scope: Construct new school
Project Supervisor: Brandy Matthews-Fox, CPM Construction Management
Completion Date: September 2004
Architect: BLRB Architects
Contractor: Lease Crutcher Lewis