Mar. 5—RBS Design Group's design work for the football stadiums at Apollo and Daviess County high schools was recently selected for a 2021 Architectural Portfolio award.

It's just one of many awards the company, based at 723 Harvard Drive, has won since 1978 when Otto M. Ranney launched it.

He was the "R" in the name.

Terry Blake — the "B" — came onboard in 1979.

And in 1984, they merged with Strehl Engineering — the "S" — to become Ranney, Blake and Strehl Architecture and Engineering.

The current name was adopted in 1995.

Craig Thomas, the current president, joined the firm in 1991.

These days, he said, the company's 12-member staff is working on 60 or more projects at any one time — from Murray to Somerset to Montgomery and Wolfe counties.

Montgomery County is east of Lexington and Wolfe County is southeast of that city.

Thomas, Jeremiah Hawkins and Mike Ranney are the firm's three principals these days.

Jeanie Cannon and Kyle Abney are associates.

Thomas said the company primarily works with schools — from kindergarten through high school

"Our biggest local project now is the new Daviess County Middle School," he said.

The $27.85 million school, which is being built behind TownePlace Suites in Gateway Commons, is designed as a courtyard-style building, with the gymnasium toward the front of the school, along with administrative offices and the cafeteria.

Those spaces and identical sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade class wings will surround a 45,000-square foot courtyard that also includes an outdoor amphitheater and stage.

Each classroom wing will have nine classrooms, two science labs, four resource rooms and a computer lab.

The southwest corner will have band, chorus and music rooms, and the southeast corner will have home economics, Spanish, art and digital art class space.

The school is expected to open this fall.

But RBS does more than schools.

Its projects can be seen all over town — South Central Bank's Kentucky 54 location, Edge Ice Center, OMU headquarters, Don Moore Automotive, Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline and a lot more.

Last year, the firm opened an office in Louisville.

"It's closer to some of our clients," Thomas said. "And we hope to add staff there."

He said RBS is trying to hire a project coordinator in Owensboro.

But the process has been slow, Thomas said.

"In a small market like Owensboro, they're more difficult to find," he said. "But not impossible."

The next 18 months look good for the company, Thomas said.

But with a war in Ukraine, inflation and supply chain issues, it's hard to predict beyond that, he said.

The biggest problems facing construction projects today is the rapidly rising cost of materials and the slow delivery of materials, Thomas said.

Some projects, he said, are being delayed six months or longer this year.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com.