iep2 - Pondering Facility Planning

Our blogs are often inspired by questions we are asked.  When conducting community meetings, this questioning is just a daily part of the job. Some questions are popular, like this one, "How did we get here?" and going unstated is "with so many schools that need so much work?" This is a very common question, especially in California. The question refers to the current state of the school facilities.  Normally, this is followed by our school facilities are unacceptable, deplorable, inadequate, unsafe and out of date.  We have heard these descriptors from so many community members, administrators and teachers in every district that we conduct meetings.  Can we answer this question? As in every problem that has taken our society decades to create, a complex system of circumstances and hard choices lead to our run down, out of date and generally uninspiring school facilities. Although every school district has unique factors that contribute to the condi...

Changing an Icon I draw. Little doddles cover cards and note pads at large and small gatherings. It was a note taking technique I was taught and gratefully adopted early in my career. The reason, beyond my lack of spelling talent, is really to distill the spoken word into the most basic pictorial concept because when gathering information from so many, it needs to be contained and expressed in the most condensed form. The smallness allows all input to be displayed at once. Most of the drawings are well accepted icons to today’s texters, our culture’s emogies. These symbols hold strong association. A “house” is often drawn with gable roof and two symmetrical windows on either side of the door in the middle. We faithfully hold that image in our head even though very few, if any, have ever lived in a house that looks like the icon. We have many of these connections imprinted on our brains. Think of trains, building types, flowers and genders, which all have the easy mental imag...

A question that has confounded us for some time is the quiet war against windows.  A mound of research is piling up on the benefits of natural light and views to the outside.  It can improve moods, shorten healing time, reduce eye strain and help students focus.  If you are interviewing users in a building that currently does not have windows, it is one of the most passionate requests, "just give me a window and I will be happy." CHPS , the Collaborative for High Performance Schools, has both access to daylight and views as possible points in the Indoor Environmental Quality section. So why when we tour and assess schools are windows most often covered?  We go around the state, for that matter the region, and see this covering time and time again. High windows, low windows, north facing, south facing, interior, exterior... you name it, someone has covered them. In the attempts to understand this dichotomy of those who have windows, cover them and t...

Throughout the ages institutional buildings have been designed to exhibit different messages that "the state" wanted to project.  Power, strength and wealth were common with monarchies. After all it was important to show the monarchs importance and ability to construct something monumental. In a democratic republic, we have chosen a variety of images.  In the early days strength and stability were important but these have given way, in some cases, to utility and efficiency.  Part of this shift is the limited amount of funds available and the higher cost of labor.  Still, there have been several meeting where the "perception of extravagance" has been a concern. It has been said that, "To show we are good stewards of tax payer money, we can't have anything that looks that extravagant." As a slave to function instead of fashion, I have often nodded along, pushing for extra square footage versus architectural fussiness. Of course no one wants a building ...

Why is it designed that way?  It can be a common question when touring facilities on assessment or in a recent case during an interview. Still I wonder why more people do not ask that question on a day to day basis.  I do.  It is common fascination when touring facilities.  Looking a strange cabinetry and realizing the room was originally for a sewing class or once in Mexico, showing a whole group of guys that you need to pull a pin out to release the spare tire from under our stuck vehicle.  Designers normally do not place things willy nilly yet understanding the function of a design can be elusive.  No matter the effort in programing and design, new users are always present for when the building opens, who don’t know why decisions were made on the placement of switches and amenities or arrangement of spaces.  On the operational side, including servicing heating and air conditioning and cleaning finishes, there are manuals that are created, but,...

What would assessment photo selection be without a Gnome? Ever place has one. So we are coming up on another end of the year, for school districts at least, and it got me thinking of all the places we have been and people we have met.  Some of the best parts of what I do is meeting so many inspiring people and seeing so many creative ways to use and personalize space. A programmer learns a lot about people, what their goals are, how they work, who they work with and what they store. Skeletons anyone? It is fascinating! The fashion model in one department. We heard he/she changes outfits for every season! I never think enough thought is given the work that our civil servants do for the betterment of our society.  Granted there is a teacher day and secretary day  and I guess even bosses day but does that really cover it?  Sometimes it is the janitor or the maintenance worker who is the most beloved by the kids at a school.  Social worker and m...