A HARBINGER OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT........... SITE & PROGRAM
SITE: Evolve the school typology, a case study of autonomy and dialogue at the in-between condition.
Multiple zoning designations surround this small site, suggesting a new mission for the school typology. A wide variety of building scales and uses define the context of this locus, making room for a sense of autonomy at the project site while also mandating a sensitive interaction between new and existing buildings and a considered response to the adjoining city arterial. The project evolves its typology by requiring the site and the building to intertwine conceptually and physically. This type of interaction, on this site, reflects a quintessential example of urban sustainability. The internal program, arranged around the central courtyard, establishes massing dynamics within the site capable of a dialogue with its neighbors. The school serves as both a contextual counterpoint and a main urban form generator.
PROGRAM: Maximize environmental learning opportunities on a tight urban site.
At this pioneering ESTEM K-8 school, learning is focused through an environmental lens. Maximizing this small site to support environmental learning was a critical design generator. The entire site is conceived as a lab. From the main entry, a living wall welcomes students and visitors on a daily basis. In the three-story central stair shaft, a graphic section of the earth’s crust, illustrating vertical earth strata, is paired against the seismic calculations for the exposed braced frame structure of the stair displayed on the opposite wall. On the north side of the building, a garden and natural stone seating area surround an existing tree, softening the view to the school from the adjoining residences, while placing learning squarely in a natural setting.
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