Westerville South High School and Jeff LeRose, the district's director of facilities, played host to design students from The Ohio State University, Ohio University and Columbus College of Art & Design on Saturday, Nov. 5 as part of an event sponsored by the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).
The high school, which is in the home stretch of its renovation/addition project, served as a learning lab for college students.
“Most universities do not have much time or emphasis dedicated to educational design, so we wanted to show students the types of projects happening today in educational design to hopefully peak their interest in the market sector,” said Morgan Mitchell, an interior designer with Triad Architects who also serves on IIDA’s executive board.
LeRose guided a tour of WSHS, where students examined the renovated areas that were the bigger design focuses. They explored the athletic addition and renovated spaces such as the auxiliary gym into classrooms, the media center and cafeteria. They learned about some of the design challenges that designers faced and how they addressed them.