Revamp WordPress Lab Website

Our academic lab site—https://www.saskyavn.blog—still contains the right people, project and news pages, yet it loads slowly and the Elementor editor no longer lets me make even the smallest change. I want to rebuild the site on WordPress again while keeping the existing content and overall navigation structure intact.

What I need from you is a clean, faster-loading design that feels a bit perkier but remains simple and professional. A lightweight theme (Gutenberg blocks or another easy visual builder) should replace the current Elementor setup so that, once you hand the keys back, I can handle routine updates myself—posting news, adding new team members and archiving retired projects without touching code.

Key goals
• Preserve all current text, images and document links, as well as the menu flow people are used to.
• Significantly improve page-load speed and general performance.
• Deliver a fully responsive layout that looks sharp on phones and tablets.
• Provide a short hand-over session or concise guide so I’m comfortable updating content solo.

Please outline the tools or theme you propose using within WordPress and a rough timeline for the build, migration and hand-off. I will supply any extra copy or imagery you request.

I don't know what Wordpress theme. It could be the same one I have, or similar. I would like to do it within the next 6 weeks.. Note I use a Mac.

Here is the current website: https://www.saskyavn.blog