DMR worked alongside a group of partners and specialists to deliver a robust renovation to Plainfield High School that included a new esports lab and renovated black box theatre, auditorium and auditorium lobby.
The entire project sought to empower and engage all populations of Plainfield High School. Esports players, once required to engage in their activities alone and at home, now compete alongside their teammates at school, participating among the same type of team branding and with the same type of celebrations that those who participate in traditional physical sports and performances experience. Student artists see their artistic visions in grand scale around the entire auditorium entrance lobby.
The esports lab, auditorium and black box theatre scope delivered new or renovated programming spaces that offer some of the most advanced audio-visual technologies available to high schools. Technology allows for competitions to be streamed from the esports arena into the renovated auditorium, engaging up to 1,500 viewers in the esports challenges by projecting the competition on an IMAX-sized screen. Microphones in the auditorium capture audience reactions and are played back in the esports arena, allowing the players to experience the feeling of a live audience. These spaces also provide new curriculum and career-prep opportunities for students interested in technological careers through auditorium rigging, projectors and advanced control panels, all in places where no technology existed before.
During the renovation of the auditorium lobby, student artists were invited to submit their visions for artwork to line the walls, with DMR and the art director working together to select artwork that was representative of the student experience and told personal stories of the students of Plainfield High School.