Despite facing significant obstacles, including a flood-prone location and limitations on modifying existing structures, the district persevered, eventually resulting in a groundbreaking new building addition that redefined the school’s entrance and functionality.

Expanding the junior high into a 5-8 facility, a 5th grade wing will be added to the junior high to accommodate growing enrollment, adding five highly functioning learning spaces and a new unit office. New lockers will be added to the 6th grade wing, which will also be the new home of the enhanced junior high weight room.

Mattoon school district's LIFT (Leaders Innovating for Tomorrow) houses a regional innovation center for the surrounding 28 school districts in the area.

Despite challenges such as rocky terrain and limited usable acreage, the district proceeded, with the new school designed to replace an aging building, which would be repurposed for early childhood education and storage.

Following a successful year-long master planning process, designed to address concerns of aging infrastructure and facility inequities, Lanphier High School was identified as a top priority for revitalization among the district's three high schools.

Through a $100 million bond referendum, the Edwardsville School District can provide 21st century learning environments throughout their facilities.

A new Elementary School was proposed to help the district replace the approximately 80,000 s.f. of outdated, non-functional, and rigid elementary spaces housed at Lincoln (3-5) and Washington (PK-2).

As a component of the April 2019 referendum, Hixson Middle School was to be expanded so that it could receive the school district’s sixth grade students after another district facility transitioned from a single grade and specialty school to a K-5 elementary school. The current middle school, originally opened in 1955, would require both renovations and building additions to accommodate the increase in student population.

Unsure of whether to remodel their historic middle school, build new on the existing site near their current high school, or build new on a different site, the Maroa-Forsyth School District reached out to get community input via BLDD's community engagement process.

Through the BOLD Facilities Plan, Decatur Public Schools is working to ensure student-focused learning environments with spaces that expand learning beyond traditional expectations to further engage students. To help accomplish this goal, a reimagined, new facility replaced an outdated structure which was located on the highest elevation point in Decatur, Johns Hill.

From 2018 to 2023, the district embarked on a series of transformative renovations aimed at enhancing learning environments at North Technical High School. These projects ranged from upgrading security and administrative areas to creating new, state-of-the-art spaces for their cosmetology and dental sciences programs, as well as modernizing the welding shop. The renovations were designed to cater to the unique needs of students and staff, creating inspiring spaces that foster education and career development.

In 2021, voters approved a $35 million dollar referendum, called, “Safe Schools, Safe Kids.” Bierbaum required building additions and interior modifications to accommodate their increasing enrollment, and enhance safety and security measures.

The project at New Berlin’s Junior / Senior High School will mean that all grade levels in the district will have the opportunity to learn and grow within modern facilities. The addition and renovations to the building are focused on re-organizing and improving all core educational spaces to give a clear understanding of place for both the Junior high and Senior High School. Different grade levels have individual spaces specifically catered to their age group, with shared spaces centered between for ease of access for everyone.

The new 81,500 s.f. Ellsworth Dansby Jr. Magnet School will house K8 students with environments that revolve around student-focused learning. Flexible and collaborative work spaces will be incorporated to engage students to work in small groups. 

This transformational educational environment helps diverse students learn in future-focused ways. Intentional features such as operable walls and flexible seating allow easy collaboration and project-based learning while bilingual teams and faculty will be able to share students without leaving the classroom area.

Fort Worth Independent School District’s Jacquet Middle School is receiving much-needed updates and renovations to create a safe, flexible campus while increasing the facility’s capacity. The 110,000 s.f. renovation includes connecting two additions from 1988 and 2008 and adding office administration space to create a secured entry.

The district spent four years working with the community and staff to plan for an expansion and renovation with the goal of meeting the needs of growing enrollment and providing future-focused learning opportunities to students.

With a building of over 175 years old, Springfield PSD was looking for renovations to bring existing conditions back to its original state of the art facility standards.

With an already thriving program, the planning of this facility and its location needed to be tightly knit into other district programs, such as athletics and general education. A key consideration was also the ability to expand program offerings in the future, through enlarged facilities and features which could include on-site gardens, crops or additional livestock support.

Facing the challenges of growing Pre-K programs and efforts to reorganize elementary schools, Richland County CUSD #1 found the construction of an early learning center was the answer they were searching for.

Faced with outdated high school facilities, an extensive community engagement planning process identified and assisted in prioritizing needs; ensuring a successful plan.

Faced with outdated and inflexible learning environments, unused spaces, chaotic drop off and pick up, and no central gathering area, doing nothing was not an option for the Jacksonville School District. Not only is the junior high experience a pivotal time in a child’s life, but of all the district facilities, the junior high was positioned to serve every student in the district.

The district had two separate schools that served their small, rural student population. Both campuses needed extensive updates and lacked 21st century spaces. The new, smaller single campus school serves the district within a tighter footprint with increased 21st century program space.

With the implementation of a county-wide sales tax that provided additional funds to public schools across the region, the Mt. Zion School board wanted to invest funds into facilities that bolstered the community's small town traditions. The new athletics field house and auditorium within Mt. Zion High School provide ample space for a myriad of academic and civic events.

This renovation and new addition project turned into an opportunity to not only unify an outdated and disconnected school building, but also bring unification to a student body and community.

Following successful community engagement resulting in a $200 million bond referendum, Iowa City is poised to update City High School with an addition and renovation. The project includes a new gymnasium that will have two floors, seating up to 2,000 at athletic events on all four sides. Fans will pass through a new plaza area on their way to the gym entrance.

Built in 1924, South Side Elementary is the oldest elementary facility in the Champaign School District. The original facility was designed during a time when children would walk to and from school, and aside from technological upgrades, few changes had been made to modernize the building since its original construction.

Cerro Gordo CUSD #100 was facing outdated facilities, overcrowding, and needed some serious security updates. To solve these problems, this district was renovated to include a connecting addition to the original 1929 three-story HS building and the 1963 cafeteria/gymnasium building.

Through renovations and an addition to a 1950s-era building on a tight city footprint, an engaging, innovative and inviting high school, focused on providing modern facilities to support digital learning, academic achievement and fine arts and athletic excellence was developed. While the student population was highly achieving, the existing school did not reflect the student merit.

At 50 years old, the Eisenhower High School for the Decatur Public School District was physically worn, and functionally ineffective. The school district conducted a community engagement planning process to determine how best to meet the current and future educational aspirations of the community.

The new high school addition provides spaces that are flexible and have more than one function. Moveable walls, reconfigurable furniture, shared faculty offices, and multi-functional spaces create a 21st century learning environment in a smaller footprint.

A competition gym addition, with secure entry and office suite, increases health and wellness opportunities for students and staff, while addressing the district-wide space shortage for student activities. The addition serves as a new front door for visitors, creating a positive first impression for Heyworth CUSD #4. 

The design for the Knoxville High School began with visioning workshops to determine the desired educational practices and programs. After understanding the variety of learning environments recommended to meet the needs of 21st century curriculum and instruction, BLDD's task was to group these learning environments into a cohesive organization that facilitates a seamless delivery of the educational program.

The Community Engagement Planning Process with Meridian CUSD #15 resulted in a clear direction, to reduce the number of campuses from four to two and concentrate resources to make these remaining two campuses healthy, safe, and educationally relevant.

After completing a community engagement process and passing a referendum, this district’s iconic, historic building received much needed upgrades. This high-achieving district now features facilities that are up to par with their high-quality academic, fine arts and athletic performance standards.

The building was designed to replace several small, aging elementary schools with one larger facility that accommodates small learning communities and future education changes through its unique modular design.

Phase 2 of the Pleasant Plains High School Additions and Remodel serves as an extension of the Phase 1 project, completed in 2012. The second phase completes the expansion of the high school into a future 600 student school.

The Mahomet-Seymour School District wanted to take advantage of their high school expansion to create an image that reflected the strong civic pride in their school’s education, music and athletic programs.