PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The Project School is part of the larger re-vitalization of the inner-city of Indianapolis Martindale-Brightwood area. A fundamental part of the school’s purpose is to work together with families and communities to ensure each child’s success. Their goal is to uncover, recover, and discover the unique gifts that each child brings to school everyday. An intrinsic part of the school is the idea that students graduate as stewards of the environment with the will, skill, capacity and knowledge to contribute to the greater good.
Currently the school is occupying a historic building that formerly housed the National Motor Vehicle Factory which was in operation from the early part of the 20th century. The building is a classic example of classic turn-of-the-century industrial architecture with exposed cast iron beams, interior brick walls, multitude of large windows and soaring interior spaces. The building has an unique layout because of its original purpose as an assembly line factory. The school currently occupies one wing of the building. Indiana is closely tied to the earliest history of the automotive industry, which makes preserving the character of the building especially important as a piece of Indiana history.
The school would like to embrace the history of the factory building as well as promote sustainable development by reusing a formerly abandoned property. The extremely high ceilings and interior columns make it difficult to partition the space into individual classrooms. Partial height partitions are currently being used but the environment is chaotic because of the lack of acoustic isolation. Furthermore, the frequency of spacing of the columns makes it difficult to establish a large open space. Our partnership with the Project School came as a result of the school’s difficulty with the building and the opportunity work with the students and teachers to develop a solution that created an ideal classroom for their setting. Also as an opportunity to develop some educational technologies to maximize utility and minimize resources that can be used in other areas of the world.
The Design concept of the Classroom with movable modules reflects the historical context of the existing building which was an automative production plant. By reinterpreting the 'Production line of the factory', the design concept adopts the notion of 'Movement' and 'Openess', as the overall design concept. The design concept of the Classroom will also enhance the mission of the 'Project School' by creating a flexible and creative place for the students while being modular and can be duplicated throughout the existing school in the future.
Our challenge is to modify the space so that it allows the unique learning environment of the Project School to flourish. Our goal is to provide limitless boundaries, allowing interconnection within the classroom, school and even beyond the school walls. At the same time, we need to provide the flexibility to form separate spaces to allow for simultaneous activities to occur without impeding each other. To allow for flexible use of space while at the same time allowing classrooms to be divided when needed, we developed a series of mobile self-contained educational modules. These modules serve as both partitions and as learning centers. Each module is task specific such as art, technology, science, etc. In this building, the modules will be suspended from the large overhead beams allowing them slide along these beams to divide or reconnect the classroom spaces. Each module is completely self-contained holding all the classroom resources necessary for the module specific task. In a different application these modules could be floor mounted or on wheels. Therefore, if desired the modules could be shared between classrooms allowing greater utilization of educational resources. They could even be used outside the school to provide a true classroom without boundaries. The mobility of the modules, in fact, frees the class from the restrictions of the building itself.
We wanted to honor the school’s commitment to environmental stewardship by providing access to an outdoor laboratory that is integrated into the building footprint. The exterior shape of the building forms an interior courtyard space where the entrance to the school is currently located. This courtyard will be developed as an outdoor laboratory by providing a multi-use green space on the second level above the entry. A specific mobile module for the outdoor lab could be developed thus integrating the classroom and outdoor space. In addition to the educational value, the green space will provide a significant counter-point to the surrounding industrial architecture. One of the highlights of this area are the solar collectors that not only provide a sculptural element they also provide utility by supplying energy to the school.
Structurally, the classroom environment has changed very little over the last century. Buildings have been purpose built according to standards of classroom use. By adapting this industrial space for education, we have been forced to re-think the construction of the classroom itself. The module-centered classroom concept allows any space to be converted to a learning environment.
Basis of Sustainable Design Components / Materials
Green Roof System:
Detain over 50% storm water to reduce storm water loads, reduces heat island effect (ideal for existing urban setting)
Solar Panels:
On-site renewable energy source contributing to water and space heating (serves as teaching tool and beacon)
Natural Cross-Ventilation:
Reworking the existing window system to introduce operable windows on all facades to promote natural ventilation for each classroom.
Acoustical Ceiling Panels:
Increase sound absorption and light reflectance through use of panels made from high recycled content mixture with no formaldehyde content.
Lighting:
Existing building designed for use of natural light. Modules incorporate lighting needs with minimal additional lighting in the ceiling. Low energy consuming/long life span lamps to be incorporated to reduce energy use and costs.
Classroom Modules and Partitions:
-Moveable designed systems allow spaces to easily reconfigure for classroom needs which will reduce environmental impact and costs in the future.
-Environmental specialty casework to be made of recycled/salvaged/renewable materials or FSC-certified wood, and low-VOC finishes (where used) to promote healthy and sustainable indoor learning environments.
Furniture:
High recycled content, renewable upholstery materials, and low emitting materials.
Flooring:
Combination of renewable materials and recycled content flooring will be utilized in areas designated around the classroom.
