CLIENT: ROCKCASTLE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

NEW BUILD

The new Rockcastle County Middle School project focuses on the value of community. The design preserves the existing gymnasium that has served as a staple for community events for decades. The new school connects to the gymnasium with educational spaces organized by grade and team sub-communities around a shared open-air courtyard. Special attention was given to improving traffic flow for parents and buses by adding a unique pick-up/drop-off tunnel. The new high school football field and track blend with the structure with a new grandstand serving as the connector. Also included in the design is a new cafeteria and commercial kitchen that will serve 625 students. Drones were used to survey the site, existing building conditions, roof conditions, mechanical systems, and electrical systems. This survey was helpful in determining an approach to replace some aspects of the existing structure that were to remain in place where the existing gymnasium at the heart of the school could be preserved in the least invasive method. The design team also did multiple simulated walk-through animations of the new building design to show the client the transitions from outside to inside the building, and then from room to room giving the client a full view of the school as it was designed before construction was started.