Miami-Dade County Public Schools · Miami, Florida · Completed August 2025
Southside Preparatory Academy Middle School and Parking Garage
Ross Engineering designed all of the civil engineering elements for the new Southside Preparatory Academy Middle School in downtown Brickell, Miami. The seven-story building is the first Miami-Dade County Public Schools prototype to combine classrooms with workforce and staff housing apartments and a parking garage.
A seven-story school, workforce housing and parking garage in Brickell
The 88,000-square-foot facility has a 632-student station capacity and 10 workforce housing units. It includes general purpose classrooms, science demonstration classrooms, Exceptional Student Education classrooms, health education, art, music and physical education facilities, a skills development lab, a media center, administrative offices, a clinic, food service and other support spaces.
Site civil engineering, drainage and utility design
Ross Engineering's civil engineering design covered on-site and off-site grading and the drainage wells that serve the site. The City of Miami required the off-site roadway and drainage along SW 3rd Avenue, north of 10th Street, to be reconfigured and redesigned. Ross Engineering used a Civil 3D model of all existing and proposed utilities, on-site and off-site, to avoid conflicts during construction.
Water, sanitary sewer and fire line services were connected to the existing mains in the street. A plan and profile was designed for each service, showing the detailed crossing above the existing 42-inch concrete water main.
Permitting
Permits were obtained through the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, the City of Miami, DERM and the Miami-Dade County Fire Department. The project is complete, and the school was ready to open for the 2025-2026 school year.
Project facts
- Owner: Miami-Dade County Public Schools
- Architect: Zyscovich
- Location: Brickell, Miami, Florida
- Services: Civil engineering design, drainage design, water and sewer design, permitting
- Size: 88,000 square feet, seven stories, 10 workforce housing units
- Construction cost: $25 million
- Completion: August 2025