Pali High South

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

When the Southern California wildfires of January 2025 displaced 2,500 students overnight, Gensler transformed a vacant 1947 Sears landmark into a fully operational high school — in 30 days.

Location

Santa Monica, California

Client

Palisades Charter High School

Expertise

Education [FPO] Architecture [FPO] Brand

Opportunity

When wildfires swept through Los Angeles in January 2025, they left Palisades Charter High School with roughly 40% of its campus damaged and the remainder deemed unsafe to occupy.

The destruction of their school forced more than 2,500 students into remote learning overnight. For a campus that serves as a cornerstone of the West Los Angeles community, the loss extended far beyond classrooms. A vacant, 100,000-square-foot Sears building in Santa Monica, shuttered since 2017, emerged as the unlikely but promising solution as a ready canvas for a design response equal to the moment.

Why This Matters

01
A Community at Stake
More than 2,500 students, faculty, and families lost their school in a single night, and with it, a civic anchor for a West Los Angeles community already navigating displacement on a massive scale.
02
Compressed Schedule
Conventional school construction takes many months. This project demanded 30 days. That schedule compression is proof of what urgency, trust, and aligned partnerships can unlock.
03
Reimagine for Resilience
Dormant commercial real estate exists in every American city. Pali High South demonstrates that these spaces can be rapidly reprogrammed for urgent public need.

For our students, this temporary campus is a fresh start after an incredibly challenging time. Our community has been through so much, and seeing everyone come together to create this space has been truly uplifting.

Solution

The adaptive reuse of the former Sears department store transformed 100,000 square feet of vacant retail into a fully functioning vertical campus.

Classrooms were carved from the building’s existing footprint, with the central Sears atrium reimagined as a communal gathering space that gives the campus its civic heart. Specialized areas for neurodiverse learners, dedicated counseling suites, and student support spaces were woven throughout. The Gensler Brand team deployed a blue-and-gold graphic identity, wayfinding, and orientation materials that made the space unmistakably Pali from day one. The entire fit-out was supported by substantial vendor donations of carpeting, furnishings, and acoustic material.

From brief to build: rewriting the rules of institutional delivery, running design, approvals, and construction in parallel across trades.

The Gensler studio network operated on a 24-hour “follow the sun” design cycle, with teams across time zones advancing drawings, resolving details, and solving problems in continuous relay. The City of Santa Monica moved with equal urgency, expediting approvals and coordinating across agencies to eliminate the bottlenecks that typically extend institutional projects. Vendor partners donated two football fields’ worth of carpet, hundreds of furniture pieces, and acoustic materials, compressing both cost and procurement timelines.

Rapid Campus Conversion

Gensler, C.W. Driver Companies and the City of Santa Monica transformed 100,000 square feet of a former Sears building into a functioning campus.

Impact

On April 18, 2025, after extreme devastation, more than 2,500 students walked into a school, and a community began to rebuild.

Pali High South proved that design, when mobilized with urgency and trust, can meet a community’s most acute needs without sacrificing safety, quality, or identity.

What Changed Because of This

01
Community Restored
Students and families reunited in person for the first time since the fires, supporting the emotional recovery for the community.
02
A Blueprint for Resilience
More than a one-time response, this is a replicable model. The rapid response design playbook concept that emerged from this effort offers public agencies a tested framework for future disruptions.
03
Reimagine for Public Good
A building vacant since 2017 became proof that dormant commercial space can serve urgent civic needs.

Recognition

01

Fast Company

Recognized Gensler on the 2026 Most Innovative Companies list as #1 in the urban development and real estate category for its work with Palisades Charter High School.

02

Los Angeles Times

Named Pali High as one of the best LA Architecture Projects of 2025.

03

The New York Times

Featured the Pali High South opening, just 30 days after the LA wildfires burned its former campus.

Team

Project Leadership

Kelly Farrell

Kelly Farrell serves as Co-Managing Director of Gensler’s Los Angeles office, leading the Lifestyle Sector and the firm’s Residential practice area. With an unshakable belief in the power of design to shape a better world, she inspires teams to reimagine how we live, connect, and thrive in our cities.

James Kelly

James Kelly is a Principal and Technical Director with three decades of experience leading complex projects through all phases of design and construction. Known for his integrated, holistic approach to project delivery, he is a trusted leader on large-scale work spanning mixed-use, retail, behavioral health, and social housing typologies.

FAQ

01

Where is Pali High South located?

Pali High South is located in Santa Monica, California, in the former Sears department store. The building is a 1947 landmark designed by architect Rowland Craford.

02

Who designed Pali High South?

Gensler served as the architect of record, leading design across all phases of the adaptive reuse project. C.W. Driver Companies served as general contractor, and the City of Santa Monica partnered on expedited permitting and agency coordination.

03

How long did it take to complete?

The project was completed in 30 days. Construction began March 17, 2025. Students occupied the building on April 18, 2025. The compression was made possible by parallel workflows, a 24-hour global design cycle, and aligned decision-making across all partners.

04

What makes this project significant for the community?

Pali High South returned more than 2,500 students, faculty, and staff to in-person learning following the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which destroyed approximately 40% of the Palisades Charter High School campus.

05

Is this project replicable in other cities or disaster contexts?

Yes, and that replicability is central to its significance. Pali High South established a working model for rapidly converting dormant commercial real estate into functional public institution.

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Related Expertise

Education Architecture Brand

When the Southern California wildfires of January 2025 displaced 2,500 students overnight, Gensler transformed a vacant 1947 Sears landmark into a fully operational high school — in 30 days.

When wildfires swept through Los Angeles in January 2025, they left Palisades Charter High School with roughly 40% of its campus damaged and the remainder deemed unsafe to occupy.

Why This Matters

The adaptive reuse of the former Sears department store transformed 100,000 square feet of vacant retail into a fully functioning vertical campus.

From brief to build: rewriting the rules of institutional delivery, running design, approvals, and construction in parallel across trades.

On April 18, 2025, after extreme devastation, more than 2,500 students walked into a school, and a community began to rebuild.

What Changed Because of This