DESIGN

Since the weight room would be visible from spectators of the basketball games, we wanted to use it as a statement piece for the quality of facilities that the students of the school enjoyed. The weight room has glass storefront on both sides of the room facing both the football field and the basketball court, allowing for continuous outdoor views for those within the room and the arena.

phase of the project is where I really got to communicate with product and material vendors to help select and properly convey our design intent within the construction drawings. From turf composition to drainage solutions for the field, I really developed an understanding of architectural detailing for final submittals.

Moving to the football field just south of the arena and weight room, we were aware of the rigidity and regulation that confines the creative exploration of the field, but still wanted to carry over tribal motifs whenever possible. This is where we employed the traditional Choctaw diamond pattern on the field border and arrowheads adjacent to the field numbers as well as the Tribal Seal to further express the Native heritage of the school and team for the players to draw pride from.

Our studio was tasked with designing a new facility for the Ross Collins Vocational Center, one of the oldest and longest running vocational centers in the state of Mississippi. The challenges facing the project were a condensed site and a plethora of different disciplines housed under one roof that needed to be integrated in a sensible way. While balancing the aforementioned problems, we were also instructed to approach the facility through the lens of what education may look like in the next twenty years, which explains the cutting edge materials throughout the project.