Page 22 - School Planning & Management, July/August 2017

FACILITIES USING ACTIVE PLANNING TO EVALUATE SPACE AND LEVERAGE RESOURCES
Multiple uses. The administrative entrance of the High School at Boggy Creek was also designed using active planning. Because education programs and curriculum vary from district to district, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to planning. By using active planning, you can do what you’ve done for the last 25 years and do new things going forward.
of the information related to develop- ment in their communities that might affect enrollment: Is a highway exchange coming in, for example?”
2. When OFCC conducts facility assessments, its consultants walk a district’s buildings and evaluate 23 different systems. The assessment is comprehensive — covering everything from structural integrity to technology. “Typically the school district has a facilities or maintenance person walk with our team,” says Drerup, “and that person points out challenges such as roof leaks, water pressure issues and rooms that they have trouble keeping warm.”
3. Administrators often engage a pre-bond architect who reviews OFCC’s assessment to see if anything is missing. “It’s an- other set of eyes, another quality control step,” says Drerup.
4. Administrators are responsible for communicating with all stakeholders, especially the community, about the pro- cess that’s occurring. This often includes a questionnaire to the community to determine what it is thinking. One form of communication is often via a page on the district’s website.
5. “Administrators shed light on the space’s functionality, providing hands-on informa- tion as to how the space will be used and the relationship of spaces to the academic program and campus,” notes Rauch.
The one thing Torbert finds himself con- sistently talking about with clients regarding active planning is that there are newer ways to design and build schools that allow you
to both do what you’ve done for the last 25 years and do new things going forward. “It’s the best of both worlds,” he says. The more you know about planning, the more you’re able to evaluate space and leverage resources to get the maximum bang for your buck.
As you learn more and move into active planning, keep an open mind as to what’s right for your district. As Rauch sums, “Education programs and curriculum vary from district to district, so there’s no one- size-fits-all approach to planning.” SPM
to student learning and may advocate for few windows to keep energy costs down. “If only the curriculum people know why you’re doing something,” says Clayton, “then only they can help support your efforts. If every- one knows why you’re doing something, then everyone can help support your efforts.”
Indeed, cautions Patrick G. Rauch, AIA, associate principal with SchenkelShultz, include as many people as possible and be as collaborative in the process as possible because, “if one group is left out of the loop, it can cause a negative domino effect down the road.”
The Best Approach
“We haven’t met a school district yet without budget constraints,” says Torbert. “So there are two strategies we employ universally to help officials stretch their dollars as far as they can.”
The first is efficiency in terms of develop- ing a building geometry plan that minimizes the amount of square footage. “Now, that’s a dangerous statement to make,” says Torbert, “so let me explain. We’re don’t try to make schools small but make them as efficiently laid out as possible. We try to get multiple uses out of spaces. Take corridors, for ex- ample. There are strategies that can activate corridors to provide more than just circula- tion — they can be part of the educational
environment, allowing you to get more usage out the square footage you already have.”
The second is flexibility. “The only thing we know about tomorrow is that it won’t be like today,” says Torbert. To that end, his team endeavors to provide flexible space that allows educators the ability to adapt in the future to needs that they can’t even project today.
The third is the use of technology. “We use a BIM program called Revit,” says Rauch. “It’s a helpful tool, even in the very early stages of design, as a way of looking at adjacencies and efficiencies. Everything is already to scale, and you can look at things in 3D and see how they are related. This helps us shape the layout and elevations and helps us with our internal process as well.”
The Administrators Role
District administrators are integral to both the facility and space planning pro- cesses, as they are key in evaluating options and looking at budgets. If you’re an admin- istrator, here are some specific responsibili- ties you can expect during the process.
1. “When we’re doing an enrollment projec-
tion,” says Drerup, “we get nine years of data from the Department of Education. School administrators review the infor- mation and provide us with the current year data. They also provide us with all
22 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JULY/AUGUST 2017
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