Caesar Rodney High School Renovations and Additions
Assessment, Design and Construction
Responsible Innovation Helps Referendum Pass & Leads High School into Future
Problem
Caesar Rodney high school was outgrowing the physical limitations of their space at the expense of their educational programs. Caesar Rodney needed:
- More classroom space - teachers were sharing classrooms and using auditoriums as lecture halls
- Updated athletic facilities - Rider Stadium needed secure entrance points and facilities needed updating as a whole
- Improved building security and circulation - there was a lack of a connector between the two areas of the school, forcing students to go outside to get between buildings.
Caesar Rodney wanted a solution that solved these problems immediately and considered future growth while staying within their budget. To pass plans through a district referendum, they needed to submit a Certificate of Necessity and Facilities Assessment.
Solution
StudioJAED’s multi-disciplined facility planning, architecture, and engineering expertise is critical to the success of education projects. Integrated expertise is critical in developing creative and efficient solutions to help make existing systems work efficiently with newly proposed systems.
StudioJAED:
- Used virtual reality software to help communicate the vision to key stakeholders, winning support at critical phases
- Completed Certificate of Necessity and Facility Assessment
- Assisted with referendum planning
- Applied responsible innovation approach to create cost-effective solution that maximized value
The strategic design was able to solve a number of problems with one key architectural feature that connected multiple buildings. Our full proposed solution was to:
- Build a connector between two areas of the school to secure and control student circulation
- Place addition at same place as existing athletic facilities to improve access and quality of buildings
- Create a gateway from the school into Rider Stadium to improve security
These plans will result in:
- Two additional classrooms
- New athletic facilities
- Student common areas
- Office and small group instruction areas
- Improved security with building connector
- Student-centered campus
- More parking
Impact
Responsible innovation approach enabled StudioJAED to construct a facilities assessment and Certificate of necessity that illustrated the benefits of the upgrades to the community. The referendum planning process was successful, and the referendum passed. Construction for this multi-phased project is set to begin in Summer 2018