Page 20 - School Planning & Management, July/August 2019

FACILITIES HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF OUTDOOR SPACES
Outdoor Learning in a Desert Climate
About 2,500 miles away, at West-MEC’s Southwest campus’ desert environs, a vastly different, but equally apt, outdoor program unfolded, as architects explained. The landscape was part of DLR Group’s design of several school complexes for West-MEC.
The Southwest campus’ desert-like landscape is tasteful and understated, with young trees and plants interspersed in a bed of gravel and rock and beside gentle path- ways. Terraces and walkways overlook the grounds, with the entire set piece beneath a high canopy.
The landscape, and outdoor learning, which is an aspect of the school’s diverse ed- ucational program, as well as the building’s orientation, landscape and architecture,
are all integrated. As Elizabeth Hawkins, DLR Group senior associate, points out,
the building’s extensive photovoltaic shade canopy generates power while providing shade that enables “outdoor learning envi- ronments” in the desert climate.
David Case, senior landscape architect for Logan Simpson, which also worked
on the campus design, elaborates: “The site, landscape and architecture \[are\] one integrated system, rather than separate entities functioning independently.
The site and landscape design help to facilitate the educational program of the architecture and serve to create an overall environment that is comfortable and visually interesting, which better facilitates learning.”
Local water restrictions were a challenge. So the architects employed rainwater-har- vesting tanks, says DLR Group Principal Pam Loeffelman, and “the use of indig- enous and low-water use plants, \[which\] harmonize with the site context and reduce the water load on campus.” The integrated system “blends sustainable elements into a design that is both affordable and efficient,” he explains.
Indeed, a key aspect of the approach at West-MEC, Case says, was starting “with a palette of native plant material.” He says
he believes school district decision makers should make “specific selections from that \[palette\] based on aesthetics, required maintenance, water use and spatial require- ments.” That said, there already are param- eters in place: “Nature has pre-selected the plant material that is most appropriate,”
he says, so “clients and designers \[should\] adopt an approach of working with nature instead of against it. Using desert and desert-adapted plant material ... made sense in that it was going to be the most sustainable, lowest water-using and lowest maintenance over time.”
4 Tips for Creating Outdoor Spaces for Schools
Back at Sussex Avenue in New Jersey, things are going well — the playground is a bustling spot and a source of fun, phys-
ical exercise, learning through play and experiences in gardening, landscape design and more. It all adds up to a greater whole. As Gearhart says, however, the key is having “the right playground.”
Some tips for creating meritorious, educationally relevant and attractive outdoor spaces, whether landscape alone, a playground, or both, at schools:
• Use students’ voices to guide the process, Gearhart recommends.
• Design with the notion that a playground,
as Gearhart adds, “is one of the most important aspects of a school. It’s not just about recess. It’s also about using the playground as an instructional tool.”
• Work with nature, not against it, as you select plants for your school landscape. • Bear in mind that, as Logan Simpson’s
Case points out, “landscape is an invest- ment and using indigenous plant material that is more likely to thrive is an effective way to protect that investment over the long term.”
>>Scott Berman is a freelance writer with experi- ence in education topics.
20 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JULY/AUGUST 2019
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PHOTOS © LIAM FREDERICK COURTESY OF DLR GROUP