Advanced Technologies Academy is ranked as the number one school in the state. A-TECH’s mission is to “The mission of Advanced Technologies Academy (A-TECH) is to empower a diverse student body by teaching academic concepts and technological skills and by instilling in students the importance of effective, responsible application of their knowledge to succeed in a highly competitive, technologically changing world,”. In order to provide its students with this it provides eight areas of study. These areas of study include; Computer Science, Graphic Design, Legal Studies, Business and Finance, Engineering, and Architectural Design. A-TECH focuses on the academic portion of the school and has been highly awarded for what it has achieved. The school was founded in 1994 and at that time in had no gym and no east wing. In 2000 the gymnasium was opened to the student body. The east wing was built and ready for the 2003-2004 school year. The gym was originally designed to only host the amount of students attending without the east wing being populated. This is shown by the size of the gym. Many of the students complain not just about the size of the gym but also of the acoustics that it has, the gym is used when the school has assemblies. The gym is also very outdated and lacks many parts to what a normal high school gym would have.
Design Problem: Advanced Technologies Academy is a school that is very academically oriented and the gym is no longer able to host the amount of students that currently attend the school. Not only that but the gymnasium is not as modern at it should be. It lacks the equipment and room in order for it to be used more effectively. The locker rooms are very small and student must share locker in order to be able to store their personal items. The showers have absolutely no privacy and are not able to be used. The weight room is too small and you basically cannot see because of the direction in which it is positioned. They gym itself is small and is has almost no room for it to be used for games like a basketball games. When the bleachers are pulled out it does not leave enough room for the basketball court and there are not enough seats for any type of game to be enjoyed. For these reasons the gym is rarely used by the students in extracurricular activities.
Design Solution: My plan is to completely rebuild the gym as I do not see any way for it to be able to work and make it be more efficient. I plan to make the exterior a bit more modern looking but to also make it fit in with the exterior of the school’s structure. The interior will be completely renovated. First of all the locker rooms will be expanded so that the students have more breathing room. Also, so that they do not have to share lockers and can have one locker to themselves. The showers will be made more private by adding partitions and some sort of shower curtain. By expanding the showers the student will be able to use them if necessary. The gym itself will be expanded. The weight room will also be expanded and it will be positioned so that the natural lighting will not be too overwhelming. There were also be more bleachers added so that they are able to house more bodies during assemblies, games, and award ceremonies. There will high ceiling in order for there to be better acoustics. By changing all of those aspects the gymnasium will become a more modern looking gym, and it will be able to provide the needs that the student body requires. This will also make the gym more inviting for the students.