Digital Crayon: Article 12- School Design for the Whole Child

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

 

For a few years now, we have been giving a presentation entitled “Design for the Whole Child”, which describes our view of the goal of school design. The thesis is this: the mission of schools has expanded to address the needs of the whole child: academic, social, emotional and physical.  When we design schools, we need to be thinking about how the design affects these four aspects of the whole child.

Historically, schools focused primarily on academic and physical needs. This is why so many older schools consist of mainly classrooms and gyms (cafeterias too). Now schools are working to develop children into good community members and global citizens, imbuing them with a sense of social mission. They are concerned with a child’s emotional well-being as well.  Teachers often remark how positive classroom dynamics makes for a more effective educational experience. This focus on wellness encompasses physical education as well, where kids are learning about healthy lifestyles, including fitness, diet, drug/alcohol awareness, and meditation. Typically, we present these ideas to the entire school community at the outset of the planning process. We find it gets the staff’s juices flowing and helps them think beyond their own experience.

School design can address these broad goals in many ways. Here are but a few examples:

• Academic: A school can meet its students’ academic needs by facilitating “21st Century Learning” concepts (see Articles 5 and 10). This includes providing ample space for collaboration and meetings in multiple configurations.

• Social: A school can demonstrate its social mission by embracing sustainable design (see Articles 8 & 9). It can also be designed for easy use by the broader community.

• Emotional: School design can create a sense of place using scale, form and color elements that help children feel connected and give them a sense of well-being.  Natural light and views to the exterior can also contribute to this feeling.

• Physical: Schools can provide spaces such as fitness and movement rooms that teach kids long-term healthy lifestyles. They can be located in walkable communities and provide bike racks and access to public transit.

These are but a few examples. The reality is that every part of a school should address the four components listed above. We find that the Whole Child approach reminds us of the true goals of school design. It guides our thinking as we work with schools around the world to design creative buildings where young people thrive.

Last Article 11 - Aligning Existing Facilities with 21st-Century Learning

Next Article - Flexible Learning Environments

Digital Crayon: Article 11 - Aligning Existing School Facilities with 21st Century Learning

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

In the last article, we discussed how greening an existing school is often more difficult than building a new school. The same could be said for integrating 21st century learning concepts into an existing facility.  Despite the challenges, I would say this is a goal of every school we work with so we are happy to share our insights.


We discussed 21st Century Learning as it is called back in Article 5. The term “21st Century Learning” has come to describe the paradigm shift from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered inquiry, recognizing that schools must provide multiple pathways to learning to accommodate the different learning styles of students. This often translates into more project-based curriculum, interdisciplinary themes, and collaboration between teachers and among students.

The kinds of spaces that support these activities include project rooms, small group meeting spaces, larger team meeting spaces, etc. The bottom line is that if your existing facility is at capacity, incorporating these features requires adding more space to your facility.

Many schools, especially middle schools, are organized in grade level teams. Organizing support and instructional space in a way that supports this concept, such as pods or clusters is challenging in an existing facility. Often the end result is a compromise between the ideal and the reality of the geometry of the existing structure, availability of expansion space, cost and disruption to normal operations.

There are several strategies worth considering. If your classrooms are sufficiently large, it is sometimes possible to insert small group spaces between classrooms. Other times a whole classroom can be transformed into a suite of smaller spaces.

To create a team environment, it may be possible to remove the wall to the corridor of one classroom to create a common space serving the surrounding classrooms. If there is enough exterior space, a new classroom can be added to the exterior of this common space, creating a suite of three classrooms with a common space.

Another technique is to outfit an existing classroom as a project room. This includes adding sinks, storage, sufficient electrical and data, work tables and durable flooring and wall materials.

Probable the simplest strategy to encourage collaboration is to add a connecting door between classrooms. This allows for easy flow and communication between teachers and students on the same team.

Last Article: 10 - Greening Your Existing School Facility

Next Article 12 - School Design for the Whole Child

Epstein Promoted to Managing Partner of TruexCullins

Principal David Epstein, AIA, of Shelburne has been promoted to managing partner of TruexCullins Architecture and Interior Design.

In 1997, Epstein joined TruexCullins. He co-leads the Education Studio, and is an expert in K-12 and international school design. He has 24 years of experience as a registered architect - creating master plans and providing architectural services for schools around the world. His projects are in over 13 countries including: Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, and Ethiopia. He also presents and writes about 21st Century school design.

Epstein earned his bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic and State University College of Architecture, Urban Studies.

Community engagement and making a difference are important to Epstein and the firm. He serves on the Board of Directors for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR), The Vermont Food Bank and the Town of Shelburne Historic Preservation and Design Advisory Committee.

Epstein writes a school-design blog series call the Digital Crayon.

Digital Crayon: Article 10 – Greening Your Existing School Facility

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

In our last article, we discussed the sustainability in a general way as viewed through the lens of the LEED Green Building Rating System. I am sure many of you are wondering: how do I green my existing facility. Here again, looking at LEED’s Existing Building: Operations + Maintenance (EBOM) program is instructive.

As you might imagine, greening an existing facility is much harder than building a new one to green standards. For starters, the new construction program is a single event while the existing program is an ongoing process. This process includes changing the way you purchase materials, food, furniture and even how you clean the building. In short, it requires institutional behavior changes, which is often harder to do. And the EBOM system requires recertification every five years.

Many of the other credits in the EBOM system are similar to the new construction program: storm water control, water and energy efficiency, etc. But rather than speak in generalities, let’s drill down into a few topics to see how it works. First up: energy efficiency.

Our approach to making a new or existing structure energy efficient can be summarized in three steps. Step 1: Make the building envelope well-insulated and air-tight. This helps reduce loads on your heating and/or air-conditioning equipment, allowing them to be sized smaller. Next, specify energy- efficient equipment with options like heat-recovery and free-cooling. Third, is to specify smart controls. These include occupancy and CO2 sensors, dimming and multi-level lighting. The idea is to only run the lights and HVAC when you have to. Educating the users of each space to assist with these goals helps too!

Now some of these measures may cost additional money up front. The key to successful implementation of green design is to look at the life-cycle cost analysis of the proposed system. This is done by computing the energy costs of the proposed system vs. a baseline system and determining the when the energy savings have paid for the incremental cost difference of the upgrade. It’s always helpful to have a criteria (ex: 10 years) beforehand – just make sure is it shorter than the life of the equipment being considered!

Just as we discussed with new buildings, sustainability addresses much more than energy consumption. For example, a key quality of sustainable design is good indoor air quality. In an existing building, this can be improved in several ways.

The primary way is to ensure there is adequate fresh air ventilation of the space. This can be done with passively with operable windows or mechanically with ventilation equipment. Beware that the split system air conditioners, so popular for retro-fits, only recirculate air and do not provide fresh air. Indoor environmental quality can also be improved by using low-VOC paints, furnishings and finishes. Cleaning practices, too, should be examined to avoid using toxic chemicals or dust creating practices. Green Guard Environmental Institute (www.greenguard.org) certifies cleaning and other products as environmentally friendly and is accepted by LEED.

In addition to considering the VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) content in each product, the type and percentage of recycled content, location of origin and renewable nature of each choice must be considered to lower your school’s environmental footprint. Changing your purchasing selection criteria is an important way you can green your school – with or without a construction project.

Last Article: Article 9 - School Safety and Security

Next Article: Article 11 - Aligning Existing School Facilies with 21st-Century Learning

Digital Crayon: Article 9 - Safety and Security

by David Epstein, AIA

In light of recent tragic events, I thought it would be timely to discuss safety and security at schools. It is always a difficult discussion. In many of our local schools, there is a feeling that the community is safe and something bad couldn’t happen here. The shooting in Essex, Vermont in 2006 certainly shifted that perception, and now, in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, every school is re-evaluating its security arrangements. For our international clients, this has always been a paramount concern and we often consult with the Regional Security Officer to understand the security concerns for that region.

The first step in improving safety and security is to identify the nature and range of the potential threats. Is it a concern car loaded with explosives, an armed perpetrator or kidnapping, for example? Or perhaps flooding or power outage? Different threats often require different responses in both facility design and operations. A successful approach will be a combination of common sense facility improvements in concert with effective operational protocols.

To be clear, there is no way to completely remove the risk of an event. Each school has to achieve a balance between the effectiveness and the cost, both financially and culturally, when considering security improvements. On one hand, we can’t ignore the potential threats; on the other hand, do we want our schools to resemble prisons?

Let’s start first on the exterior. Following the Sandy Hook shootings, much of the discussion has centered on how to keep a perpetrator out of the building. Unfortunately, it is very difficult, if not impossible if the perpetrator has made it to the building perimeter. And what about the safety of the students using the playgrounds and recreational fields?  They are in a completely unsecured area. This is why virtually all of the international schools we work with create the security zone at the perimeter of their property, usually with a 3m high fence and guard house at the entry points. It is recommended that buildings be placed a minimum of 100ft from a public way.  While this is standard for international schools, this is considered overboard for schools in a region like Vermont.

There are differing opinions on the effectiveness of armed security guards. It certainly sets a tone - for some reassuring, for others unwelcoming. Perhaps it sends a signal to the public that the school is serious about safety. To be effective, the guard must be at the right place at the right time. Will a gunman choose to enter at the most secure point? In any case, many question whether a minimally trained guard with a service revolver can stop a gunman in a bulletproof vest with a semiautomatic weapon. We do know that innocent bystanders are often caught in the crossfire. As you can see, the benefits of armed guards remain an open question. 

If car bombs are a possible threat, bollards, boulders, or swales can be used to keep vehicles away from the building. Some international school use mirrors to scan underneath a vehicle. Upon entering the building, there should be a security checkpoint with some kind of badge system. However, because of the increased flow at drop-off and pick-up times, this is often not practical at these times. Using a single entry point into the school building is one way to monitor entrants. In many schools, several administrators stand out front and welcome the students in the morning. In addition to monitoring activity, it is a great way for the school leadership to meet all of the students and parents.

The entry should be arranged so that people cannot easily enter the building without passing a receptionist or security personnel to obtain a badge. Some school entries are designed so that you must pass through a controlled area before you can enter the school. Others utilize a transaction window or counter located just inside the exterior doors. In any case, it is critical to train the staff to question anybody in the school who does not have proper identification.

Inside the school, it is imperative that there is a way to alert every staff member about an intruder. This may be through a public address, phone or walkie-talkie system. Often there is a code phrase that signals the lock down. The general protocol is to clear all public areas and sequester staff and students in classrooms. To do this, it is important that classrooms lock from the inside, which is not how older classroom latch sets function. However, they can be easily retrofitted. As it is also important that the perpetrator not see any potential victims, there must be a quick way to obscure views through both hallway doors and exterior windows.

As many of our schools function as community centers, school leaders are concerned about maintaining an open, welcoming feel while at the same time improving the safety of both students and staff. It is a difficult balancing act in light of the recent tragedy.

Next Article: Article 10 - Greening Existing Facilities

Past Article: Article 8 - Sustainability

Digital Crayon: Article 8 - Sustainablity

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

Sustainability, Green Schools, Environmental Design – it goes by many names these days. Everybody wants it for their schools, but few schools understand what it means and the level of commitment required to make it happen. We believe sustainable design is a great fit for schools because it creates healthy productive environments that help students excel and are resource and earth-friendly facilities that are durable and energy efficient. With so many schools teaching environmental stewardship and global citizenship, it is a unique opportunity demonstrate its commitment to these concepts. At its highest level, we can create buildings that teach these fundamental ideas through their thoughtful design.

We use the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System as the starting point in our discussions. Over the past several years, it has become the defacto green building credential.  It provides a useful conceptual framework by which to assess environmental design opportunities at a school.

LEED is divided into  five primary categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality. There are also Innovation and Regional credits available as well. In each of the five categories, there are credits that are mandatory and some that are optional. The idea is to select the credits that make sense for your project. Each credit is documented and reviewed by the LEED accrediting group. Based on the number of credits accepted, a project can receive a Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum certification.
What does LEED look for? In Sustainable Sites, credits are available for projects to be located in dense area near mass transit, on brownfield sites, to maximize open space and restore habitat. LEED also encourages responsible storm water management. This is a big issue when storm water runs on the surface or in pipes directly to nearby waterways, carrying pollutants, fertilizers and pesticides with it. In this case, green design is about being good for the environment. Implementation costs money and there is no financial payback. This is when commitment to the goals of sustainability is strictly about environmental impact and the future of our communities.

The Water Efficiency credits encourage the reduction of potable water use for landscaping, wastewater and process water use. The Energy and Atmosphere section addresses energy performance, and is where the mother lode of credits are available. Central to LEED’s approach to energy performance is the use of a computer energy model, that predicts the building’s energy performance. This interactive tool allows the design team to optimize the building performance by looking at the interrelationship of the building design envelope, HVAC systems, and site orientation. On-site renewables and green power are also encouraged.

In Materials and Resources, the emphasis is on using regional, recycled, low-emitting and rapidly renewable materials.

The Indoor Environmental Quality section tends to start quite a conversation, especially in international schools. Here LEED shows its U.S. bias, where mechanical ventilation in classrooms is common. In most of the world, however, it is not. In these places, ventilation is achieved with operable windows. The issue becomes in the winter, when the heat is on and windows are closed. The same is true in the summer with schools that have split system air-conditioning, which does not bring in fresh air.  We breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.  In these sealed environments, the carbon dioxide level can build up resulting in drowsiness. We believe effective ventilation strategies in all temperature conditions are key to creating healthy, productive environments.

LEED is but one path to making our buildings more sustainable. In the UK, they use a similar system called BREEAM. In any case, we always the welcome the opportunity to talk more about this important issue, so don’t hesitate to chime in.


Next Article - Article 9 - School Safety and Security

Last Article - Article 7 - Technology in Schools

Digital Crayon: Article 7 - Technology in Schools

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

In our last conversation, we looked at the Learning Commons (aka Library) and started discussing technology. This is a subject worth spending a little more time on. While schools we work with are all increasingly integrating technology into the learning experience, they are all at different parts of the journey. Some have one-to-one laptop programs, some have laptop carts, others a few hardwired computers in each classroom. Some have all of the above!

A decent percentage of the schools have a technology plan. Like a strategic plan, this plan lays out the school’s goals and approach over a fixed period of time. However, the technology is changing so fast that these plans often become obsolete quickly

Let’s first talk about laptops. The first issue affecting facilities was the need for charging stations. Some schools have carts, others  have put outlets in lockers. Recently, we have heard of some schools who put the responsibility on the students to do this at home. This depends of course on battery life. We suspect with the advent of solid state hard drives and longer battery life, this issue will go away.
Laptops generally run on a wireless network. Concern has been raised by some schools about the health effects of wireless technology. As far as we have read, the evidence is not conclusive. However, the concerns are real. Wireless technology can be less reliable than wired networks and can’t support large file transfers as readily.

Laptop carts have become quite popular. This is a mobile cart holding 20-25 laptops that several classes can share. As a result, we have been converting some computer labs back into classroom space. The two areas where this is not possible is with young students (Pre-K, K, 1) and High School video editing labs. The younger kids can’t carry the laptops around easily. Video editing requires fairy robust desktop computers to process the large files.
This brings us to tablets. To date, we have not seen wide spread adoption of a one-to-one program with a tablet but we are sure it's coming. With their relatively low cost, low weight and long battery life, they seem a natural for the school environment.

Many students, especially in high school, own their own device(s) and prefer using them to school issued equipment. As a result, some schools have a BYOD (bring your own device) approach to technology, investing their resources in an infrastructure that allows many types of devices to access the network, digital curriculum and printing options.

In this rapidly evolving environment, the key to a successful approach is flexibility. Focusing on providing the infrastructure to support multiple platforms will help keep the school ready for the next new device. Easy access to power and data outlets, wireless, network resources, internet, printers and most importantly the school’s educational and communication tools are always good investments amidst the changing digital landscape.

Next Article - Article 8 - Sustainability - Coming in two weeks!

Last Article - Article 6 - The Learning Commons

  

Digital Crayon: Article 5 - 21st Century Learning

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

Another key driver behind school change is the need to align facilities with the way schools now teach  (or at least want to). The full spectrum of changes in education these days is generally termed “21st Century Learning”. This term refers to ideas like student-centered learning, project-based inquiry, interdisciplinary themes, etc.  The goal is to either build or adapt school environments that facilitate this kind of learning.

As you know, many of our schools were built post World War II and consist of a small office area, multipurpose space, library and classrooms. They lack the kind of spaces needed for the modern teaching paradigm.

What exactly does this mean? Well first of all there is less emphasis on lecture based instruction, especially at the younger grades. There is more work in small groups and more project work. At the same time, there is more collaboration among teachers which results in the need to bring grade level teams together for presentations, meetings, etc. As a result, we consistently hear about the need for small spaces for small group work and large spaces for team gatherings. These are spaces that a post-War school just doesn’t have.

21st Century Learning concepts also recognize that kids learn in different ways and as a result, need different modalities in their school spaces to optimize learning. Some students are very hands-on learners, others require quiet space for deep immersion, while others thrive in a social environment. Creating flexible environments that provide multiple pathways for learning is key in supporting student learning.

As you can probably surmise, incorporating these concepts requires more space than the traditional school. After all, nothing is more space efficient than rows of tablet chairs. In fact, when touring a school, we often look at the furniture. The kind and arrangement of the furniture in a classroom often hints at the kind of learning taking place. We often engage our interior design team to assist with selecting furniture that best needs the needs of the school.

Next Digital Crayon - Article 6 - The Learning Commons

Last Digital Crayon - Article 4 - Traffic and Safety

Digital Crayon: Article 4 - Traffic and Safety

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

Our last article was about growth and community. Another big issue with virtually all schools we work with is on-site traffic congestion and safety. Everybody is driving their kids to schools these days. This results in backups and delays, both on and off the school grounds.  Because of this, people park everywhere and kids cross through travel lanes, between cars – it’s a wonder accidents don’t happen more often.

There are many design strategies that can be employed to mitigate the problems, but often there are just too many cars. We often gently suggest what’s known as “demand side management” which is an effort to reduce car usage with techniques such as improved bus service, incentives, sidewalks, bike racks and/or carpooling. This is often met with resistance, especially in international schools where safety is a big concern. People like to drive their cars!
In addition to physical improvements, there are a few things that can be done operationally that we have seen help. One is having helpers available to help small kids exit and enter their car so that the driver does not to have to get out. This seems to speed up the pickup and delivery process. One school we work with even calls out the students names so they are ready when the car arrives. In the end, the key to decreasing congestion is improving flow.

One of the key concerns, and rightly so, is safety. This can be improved by separating bus and parent drop-off areas. If there is not enough space for this and students must cross a travelled way, it should be only at well-marked designated areas. To ensure this happens, we often have to create barriers between parking areas and travel lanes to guide pedestrians to the safe crossings. We try to do this with landscaping when we can, but sometimes a nice looking fence will have to do!

Next Digital Crayon - Article 5 - 21st Century Learning

Last Digital Crayon - Article 3 - Growth and Capacity

Digital Crayon: Article 3 - Growth and Capacity

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

 

First let’s talk about some of big drivers behind a facility project. Ideally, these are defined in a strategic plan, but that is not always the case.  Having a strategic plan as starting point gives the school leadership team a clear mandate for pursuing its primary facility goals.  Often, however, needs emerge from the planning process itself. We might start with growth issues, for example, and find out that collaborative spaces are a dire need on campus.

Growth and capacity issues are classic drivers of a facility project, especially with international school these days. Understanding the parameters around the issues is important.  Is it to meet market demands, or provide richer program offerings? How big does the school want to grow? Over what period of time? Is it likely to expand evenly across all grades or only in certain areas? Having answers to these questions will help clarify the planning task ahead for the architect.

Let’s spend a little more time on the growth issue. Many times we are asked by our clients: what is the capacity of our campus? How many kids can we accommodate? Our answer is often: depends.  We say this because we have worked with schools with little to no green space. They bus their kids to shared fields.  We know we can fit a lot of program on a site, especially if multiple story buildings are allowed. The question for the school is: can it live with these impacts to its open space? To be clear: the architect’s job is to show the extent of the expanded facilities so the school can determine if these impacts are acceptable.

Another issue with growth is sense of community. Universally, we hear that people love a small school feel, meaning a sense of community where everyone knows each other. Maintaining that feeling becomes difficult as a school grows. Many of the larger schools tackle this by creating schools within schools.  A middle school, for example, can work hard to create a sense of belonging among its students and teachers. This can be reinforced by design. Providing separate entrances and social spaces within the “smaller” school can support a sense of identification with that entity. Likewise, a single campus entrance can reinforce the notion of the community as a whole.

Enhancing the sense of community is a common theme for schools these days. And not just among students. Schools are looking for spaces for teachers to connect and collaborate with each other, and places for the larger community to gather together.

Next Digital Crayon - Article 4, Traffic and Safety

Last Digital Crayon - Article 2, The Planning Process

Please post your thoughts and suggestions!

Digital Crayon: Article 2 - The Planning Process

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP



Last article we discussed getting started on a facility project. In this article, let’s discuss how the master planning process might work. If it is an existing building or campus, we generally divide up the process into three components: Facility Analysis, Programming and Concept Design. If it’s a totally new project, then of course the Facility Analysis is not applicable. In this case, an analysis of the site might be more appropriate.

In the Facility Analysis, we evaluate the building and site systems in terms of maintenance, improvement, or replacement with our team of engineers and produce a report.

In Programming, we interview all of the user groups of the building and create a Space Needs Program, which lists all of the existing and proposed spaces, their sizes and important adjacencies and environmental requirements. We also include a narrative describing existing functional deficiencies and the important driving forces behind the space requests.

Finally, in Concept Design, we develop several design alternatives based on the programming work. The selected approach is further refined and becomes the final master plan. I should note at this point that these drawings are conceptual and sketchy in nature – the 30,000 foot view. But they provide a roadmap for campus or building development that can be developed over time. The entire master planning process can take a semester, sometimes longer. Needless to say, it’s wise to have the master plan approved before there is a significant board member change over.

Along with this planning scope of work there are several options of course. Sometimes we are asked to provide cost estimating services. Often we include a sustainability review using the LEED Green Building Rating System. But more on that next time!

Next Digital Crayon - Article 3 - Growth and Capacity

Last Digital Crayon - Article 1 - Musings on School Design