Northern Secondary is built in the Collegiate Gothic style, has a floor space of about 121,317 square feet[6] and contains one hundred and fifteen rooms.Further evidence of the Gothic Collegiate style can be found in the vaulted ceilings of the hallways, and the arched doorways and windows featured throughout the building.As stated on a plaque inside the main entrance, during the 60s a major addition was built which significantly altered the rear of the school.These include the NASA space settlement competition, the World Debates at Oxford, England, and the Canadian Association of Physicists national contest.Northern has a long history of supporting national & international charities, with over 40 years of participation in the United Way fundraisers for poverty alleviation.[23] Alumni of the school include[24] one Academy Award winner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, holders of the Order of Canada, as well as Grey Cup and Stanley Cup champions, a Spitfire pilot who played a key role in an escape from a German prison camp by Allied airmen which is remembered today as "The Great Escape", and a prominent Hebrew Bible scholar.