South Lyon East High

South Lyon Community Schools worked with the IDS team for over six years on two bond issues before commissioning them to help with the planning, design and construction of their second high school. Their strong relationship supported the team chemistry and collaboration throughout the entire process. This project went well beyond normal design and construction. The entire IDS team—architects, engineers and interior designers, also fully participated in the site selection and development process. For over six months, they met with a 25-person committee to help bring a paradigm shift to the traditional departmental teaching model. As a group, they settled on a career-focused, collaborative learning-style design approach.

The resulting structure is a beautiful 318,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility located on a 110-acre site. But better than the new modern high school is the relationships turned life-long friendships that paved the way to success.

The project has special significance to IDS as this was their first new high school design project as well as their largest construction project at the time. Designed in 2003-04, the school took two years to build and was completed in September 2005. The project is packed with interesting stories and unique challenges including design by committee, asking teachers to teach in a new way, conducting a radar study for the FAA, to building a retention pond, installing a main gas line through the parking lot, debating property wetlands and removing a hill on a well-travelled road in front of the school!