DESIGN THAT RESPONDS TO CONTEXT
One of the biggest criticisms of the general public toward school facilities is the sense that our schools could be built anywhere. Without any consideration of the context of the site, prototypical school designs are adapted to fit on any available site. In many instances, this type of design response results in school site requirements that exceed the available land for building. When land was cheap, we could use as much as we needed without much concern. Today, we are operating in an environment where available land is getting scarcer and land costs are escalating rapidly. We no longer have the luxury of buying as much cheap land as we need to use for schools. Today, we need to operate smarter and develop design solutions that are more responsive to more efficient land use.
Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona is a good example of how designing for the context can result in a legacy facility. Situated along the side of a steeply sloping ridge, the design of Diamond Ranch reflects a solid understanding of how context can shape facilities. Created as a reinterpretation of Italian hill towns, Diamond Ranch "grows" from the hillside and takes advantage of the spectacular views to create an energetic learning center for more than 2000 students. By positioning the components of the facility carefully around the site, the school creates large and small-scale public spaces where students can gather to study, interact socially, or perform. The spaces between the buildings are just as important as the buildings themselves. Learning happens everywhere, not just in the classroom. The students who attend the school have pride in the facility and act accordingly.
Nicknamed the coolest school in the country, Diamond Ranch represents an excellent example of how design can use its context to create engaging learning facilities. Creating other schools with equally successful responses to their context can be achieved by following the following principles:
- Express the cultural characteristics in the design of the school. By creating design responses that reflect the unique influences of a community, the school facility will more effectively represent the values important to the learners.
- Allow the design of the facility to be shaped by the existing landforms. Reshaping school sites to make them flat ignores the inherent value of the site and can result in substantial grading costs. By shaping the design to minimize mass grading, there is less total disturbance to the site and the school facility looks more integrated into its setting and its community.
- Whenever possible, make better use of less land. As our land resources run out, it will become more critical that our design responses reflect a smarter use of the land we have. Build up, not out, with our schools and we can use less land and accommodate the needs for outdoor activity space.
A commitment to excellent design requires our solutions to be a part of the environment, not an object in the environment. Legacy schools grow from their context and reflect a positive interaction with the environment.
Additional Resources:
Office of Public School Construction
Prototype School Designs
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