With plans of renovating the Small Auditorium, the space is going to be made to be inviting and collaborative for all students.

“We needed a space for students to work with each other that is not the library and not the cafeteria,” Ryan Rubenstein, assistant principal for student activities and facilities, said.

The solution is a complete renovation of the small auditorium.  The project will not start until summer, but those in charge are making plans based on student input.  

“The feedback we got from the students was that they wanted it to be a lot like the Ela Library, [but with] a Starbucks-feel, so you might have higher counters and a higher stool to sit at and work,” Steve Wright, DLA partner, said.  “They’ve also said they kind of want the Starbucks-feel, meaning the materials, so we are looking at trying to get natural materials into the space.”

Materials may be an important part to create a space with good vibes, but Wright says that students brought up the fact that the space “feels like a dungeon” because it does not have windows. Something administration has a plan to fix as well.

“There’s going to be an area that has a garage door to the hallway that can be open or closed, depending on the volume of the room,” Rubenstein said.

Using a garage door to solve the lack of windows isn’t even the “biggest challenge,” according to Rubenstein.   

“One of the first things that needs to be addressed is the uneven floor,” Rubenstein said.  “They’re going to even that out and make it handicap accessible from the little hallway that is in between the Dean’s Office.  There won’t be stairs there anymore and that will be one flat surface that people can walk in to.”

Rubenstein says he strongly believes that making the idea and design for Studio C are the best options to optimize the space.

With the help of DLA Architects, a company working with various school districts to create better learning spaces, along with administration and the leadership teams, plans have been made.

“We met with the Student Leadership Team and put them in the space.  Then we said ‘if we were to do something in the space then what would you want?’  They came up with different lists of ideas about what they would like to see in terms of collaborative spaces and soft seating and all of those different types of things that make all of you, as students, comfortable.  Then DLA took those ideas back to the drawing board,” Rubenstein said.

The room is becoming fully functional to students and Wright says there are going to be a variety of furniture options, both “flexible and fixed,” and there are possibilities of having AppleTV available, as well as “writable surfaces on the walls.”

With everything mostly figured out, renovations are planned to begin at the beginning of June and the project’s goal is to be finished by the end of September.

Determined to put together a space with a layout of what the students “envisioned the space to be,” Wright said this is the “the first real project” that DLA is doing for District 95.

“We’ve worked on the design for about probably the last three month,” Wright said, “and we have gotten direction to move forward.”

With administration members, like Rubenstein, many believe that there is endless potential to come with the $600,000 project.

Rubenstein said, “We’re excited about the possibility and looking forward to see what the conclusion of all of this is going to be.”