The old Romeo High School became the new home of Romeo Middle School. New finishes and school branding were used to create a new home for middle school students and a colored graphic was designed to help with wayfinding. New exterior signage was designed to help identify the new main entrance and to highlight the new name of the building. IDS designed the newly renovated Middle School to accommodate around 500 students grades 6-8.
Creating a new secured visitors entrance to the school was one of the main priorities. The previous entrance to the school was separated from the reception and main office making it so visitors had to pass through a busy corridor to get to the main office. The newly created entrance allows a for controlled transition into the building through a secured visitor’s office prior to entering the building. In addition to the secured visitors entrance, the administration office area was renovated to create a new reception area, and health room for students.
Additionally, IDS was tasked to create an ADA accessible athletic gym entrance from the main school corridor thereby providing barrier free accessibility from within the building which did not previously exist. A new ramp and observation windows were created to allow visitors with disabilities to access or view the gymnasium, from the main corridor. Other renovations included a new competition game floor, and bleachers and basketball goals. The auxiliary gym was refreshed with new paint and new flooring.
Throughout the building corridor ceilings, lighting, flooring, and toilet rooms were renovated. The main toilet rooms near the main entrance and gymnasium were reconfigured to be barrier free accessible.
The largest part of the project was upgrading the academic spaces. IDS created a large new science lab by combining adjacent spaces, in addition to renovating the existing science labs. The academic program was enhanced with the creation of four new “Project Lead the Way” (PLTW) classrooms. These classrooms were repurposed from existing auto shop spaces. The larger spaces with tall ceilings and large workstations will allow hands on activities and accommodate group projects in a very active environment. In addition, all the classrooms throughout the building received new flooring while a vast majority of the academic spaces received new ceilings and lights.