Detroit School
of Arts

Detroit School of the Arts is a new educational prototype rising from the rootstock of Detroit’s fine historic buildings. The new six-story building spans 285,000 SF and is in the heart of the cultural district in Detroit. Pending a final decision from the U.S. Green Building Council, the DSA will become one of the first school buildings in southeastern Michigan to be certified as an environmentally friendly building.

DSA has capacity for 1,200 students and features an 800-seat performing arts auditorium, recital hall, cafeteria, media center, and television studios. Detroit Public Television (DPTV) has been awarded the operations management role for the radio station facilities. Professional staff from the local PBS television affiliates and WRJC FM radio station will be active DSA faculty. A tremendous benefit to students studying music is the direct partnering relationship with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The DSO will mentor budding musicians through constant contact with role models.

The new facility is a mix of buff and gray- colored masonry; silver insulated metal panels with formaldehyde- and CFC/HCFC- free expanded foam insulation, and a glazed curtain wall with two different shades of glass, one clear and the other blue-green. The new school combines the existing Media Arts High School and the Detroit School for the Arts into one school. In addition to the standard core curriculum, the school will contain both traditional art studios and for sculpture and painting and media labs for film and computer-generated graphics.