Our design proposal is as much landscape as it is building. It reinforces environmental learning concepts and builds upon the school’s integration of the landscape into school culture and pride. In addition to creating: a clear campus entry; campus gathering spaces; improved circulation; and improved interior spaces, our design engages the site and actively participates with its environment.
A variety of outdoor gathering spaces complement interior social spaces. New and existing garden elements define the pathways between buildings. We proposed 6 principal elements:
- A school square covered with solar canopies held aloft on a forest of treelike columns becomes the school entry and drop off point.
- A two story wood and glass lobby appended to the west end of Shallcross creates a clear building entry with a lobby and informal café.
- A one story indoor arcade shaped by the central campus greenspace becomes a circulation hub and creates informal gathering spaces.
- The arcade roof is both an outdoor terrace and a sloping meadow with walk-on access from the central green. Water from the canopy roofs is collected in a pool; channeled into a cistern then re-used for building services.
- A new Meeting Hall entry separates public and private circulation, and creates a flexible lobby event space.
- Enhancing the existing garden pathway along the east end of campus creates a ‘garden backstreet’ and provides a secondary drop-off for the middle school to relieve congestion.
The landscape climbs onto the building addition to make it part of its surroundings; rainwater and solar collection systems actively engage the environment and teach the importance of living with nature.
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