THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL PLANNING LABORATORIES CONDUCTED AN EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE MCPHERSON CITY SCHOOLS BY STUDYING THE EXISTING CONDITIONS, LOCAL ECONOMIES, AND POTENTIAL POPULATION GROWTH. IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT A NEW SENIOR HIGH BE BUILT TO HOUSE 700-750 STUDENTS, THE ANTICIPATED ENROLLMENT 10 YEARS AFTER COMPLETION. EDUCATIONAL SPECIFICATIONS WERE BASED UPON AN UNGRADED HIGH SCHOOL, INCORPORATING TEAM TEACHING, LANGUAGE LABORATORY, EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AND THE USE OF MOVABLE PARTITIONS TO PERMIT VARYING STUDENT-TEACHER RATIOS. IT WAS DECIDED THAT CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS WOULD OFFER EXTRA BENEFITS FROM THE STANDPOINT OF PUPILS, TEACHERS AND THE LEARNING PROCESS AS WELL AS IN MAINTENANCE AND ADMINISTRATION. A BREAKDOWN OF THE PRICES RELATING TO HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS REVEALED THAT THE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT COULD BE INSTALLED AT A REASONABLE COST. IN THE MATTER OF DESIGN, THE SHAPE THAT SEEMED TO FUNCTION BEST WITH THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM WAS THE HEXAGON, WHICH WOULD PERMIT A GROUP OF CLASSROOMS TO BE FOCUSED AROUND A CENTRAL INSTRUCTION CORE, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PERMITING FLEXIBILITY OF INSTRUCTIONAL SPACE. IT IS HELD THAT THIS BUILDING PROVES THAT WITH INTELLIGENT COUNSEL, PLANNING, AND COOPERATION, IT IS POSSIBLE TO MEET THE NEW EDUCATIONAL DEMANDS FOR A FLEXIBLE, FUNCTIONAL BUILDING WITH A COMPLETELY CONTROLLED THERMAL ENVIRONMENT AT A HIGH DEGREE OF QUALITY AND COMPARATIVELY LOW COST. SOME UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT THE BUILDING ARE THAT EXTERIOR WINDOWS IN THE ACADEMIC AREA ARE REDUCED TO VISION STRIPS AND THAT THE IRREGULAR SHAPES OF THE CLASSROOMS AID ACOUSTICAL QUALITIES. TABLES ARE INCLUDED SHOWING COST DATA AND THE ARCHITECT'S ANALYSIS OF SAVINGS.