Malibu's new high school is built to withstand wildfires

"Malibu High School, which opened in August, is located in an area that Cal Fire (the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) recently designated as a very high fire hazard severity zone. This means that the school, which has replaced a nondescript building from the 1950s, had to comply with stringent fire safety regulations. The new school is distributed across two connected buildings. It was constructed entirely of noncombustible materials like concrete shear walls and floors, steel columns and beams, and fire-rated glass. It is surrounded by a newly built fire road to allow easy firetruck access, and drought-resistant landscaping."

""The messages the building sends about your safety is much more like a community center," "It's about making it feel like a social place to hang out and just be.""

"Malibu High School, part of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, is nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains. It is located near a ring of coastal shrubs that is notoriously flammable but is also protected by the California Coastal Act as Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA). In 2018, the area was hit by the Woolsey Fire, which destroyed over 1,600 structures, and burned nearly 97,000 acres in Ventura and Los Angeles counties."

Malibu High School opened in August within a Cal Fire-designated very high fire hazard severity zone, replacing a nondescript 1950s building and meeting stringent fire safety regulations. The campus consists of two connected buildings constructed entirely of noncombustible materials, including concrete shear walls and floors, steel columns and beams, and fire-rated glass. The site includes a newly built fire road for firetruck access and drought-resistant landscaping to reduce ignition risk. The design favors airy, low-lying forms and social spaces rather than bunker-like austerity. The campus sits between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains near flammable coastal shrubs protected as an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area, and the area experienced the destructive Woolsey Fire in 2018.

Read at Fast Company