The Horrell Group first examined this building as part of a study of nine City of Memphis school sites, making recommendations for renovation or demolition. The original A. B. Hill school was recommended for demolition because the 1900 building had so many code violations that it would be costly to renovate. The site, however, lay in a large residential area which needed the school. Yielding to the community pressure the School Board elected to demolish the existing buildings and build a new facility on the same site. The community also requested that terracotta decoration from the original building be incorporated into the new construction. The original building fronted on a narrow but busy street, so early in the design phase, we recommended that the new building face north onto an intersecting residential street. The site sloped approximately fifteen feet from low on the north side to high on the south side. By facing the building on the north side, allowed our design to feature a prominent two-story facade which reused some of the terracotta decoration around the entrance. The building takes advantage of the steeply sloping site by concentrating the non-classroom functions in the two-story element while providing classrooms at grade level.