Tasked with the relocation of a major academic institution from the city center of Quito to a developing neighborhood at the edge of the city, Miller Hull’s design proposal for the American School in Quito’s new Puembo campus draws from the rich natural environments of Ecuador to develop a regenerative campus concept focused on the integration of the institution’s established pedagogy with natural ecosystems. In collaboration with Leppanen Anker Arquitectura, Knot Studio, PAE, and Biohabitats, the proposed design targets full Living Building certification, aiming to be among the most sustainable campuses in Latin America.
The proposed design is organized as a series of curvilinear courtyard buildings, creating smaller learning communities within the larger campus. A literal and figurative learning path would thread the campus community together, providing space for exploration, curiosity, and overlap between age groups. This learning journey would connect significant social and educational spaces such as outdoor classrooms, sensory gardens, playgrounds, libraries, auditoriums, and cafeterias, and challenge the idea that learning only occurs in the classroom. While the proposed campus would be unified by a common architectural language, each school would have a distinctive identity in its relation to color and materiality, informed by developmental milestones and inspired by the different eco-regions of Ecuador.
Targeting full Living Building Certification, the proposed school is all about creating long-term value with low-cost operations, while serving as an educational tool to inspire generations to come. Achieving net positive energy through the use of rooftop PV arrays, the proposed campus would provide enough energy to convert the school’s existing diesel school buses to an electrified bus fleet. Constructed wetlands and a living machine would process all stormwater and wastewater on site, avoiding additional loads to the municipal infrastructure. These strategies, combined with the ideal climatic conditions in Quito, provide the opportunity for this project to become a model for sustainable campus planning in the region.
This design proposal placed third in the International Ideas Competition—a competition organized by the American School of Quito and the College of Architects of Pichincha.
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