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Curie redesign-

By AlexU | XL Design an Addition for your School

Overview Instructions

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Ralph Ellison Campus, Chicago

Many schools were designed for the past and don’t reflect the 21st century learning environment. Some buildings need better ventilation or lighting, while others are simply not large enough to accommodate students comfortably. For this project, you are encouraged to envision an improvement for your school, something that would benefit everyone who uses it. The most successful designs will be ones that identify a specific need and present a strong design solution. The challenge is to add something that changes the footprint of your school building, while addressing a specifically identified need. Projects should include research and development, real world images and information showing why the need exists, in addition to final project design and information.

There are many things wrong with the school. What I plan to change is the media center. There are books there that im sure have'nt been checked out for quite some time. Half of the room is filled with a library of books that are probably informational, but since the internet is the source to a lot of the research students do the books are becoming real useless and only take up room and makes half of the room useless. Another major problem I see in the school are the cafeterias. I see the lines for luch span out into the hallway. The lines as long as 20 minutes which could be used for the student to eat and begin homework or study.I want to add something that could give a sense of creativity and also still be spacious. -

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Reeds Spring High School Addition, Reeds Spring, MO

Think About

  • What is the size of your school building? Using Google Earth and other online resources, generate a site plan for your school location.
  • What are your initial thoughts about the building? For example, is your school lacking room for art classes? Physical education? Band practice space? Common areas? Cafeteria space?
  • Talk to someone who has been at your school for a while, like a teacher or administrator. They will most likely have great insight as to what areas could stand to be improved.
  • Has anything like this ever been done in the past? If so, what were the results?
  • For more research, we recommend looking at “The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Design to Transform Teaching & Learning,” by OWP/P Architects + VS Furniture + Bruce Mau. The book is easy to digest with lots of great images and design ideas, meant to inspire readers like you. The website for the book is also a great resource.
  • Search online for newly built schools and others that have been upgraded through similar processes. Do you notice anything in common among newly built schools?

AlexU's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
I collected information by taking pictures of the places that I plan to change inside and outside the school.
This image shows how long the lunch lines in curie can get. they span from out in the hallway to...
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This is the entrance of the school. what I think can be changed here is to use the space there for...
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This is of the media center in my school. It has many books that are outdated
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This is the size of the lunchroom. There are six of these throughout the school. two on each floor.
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This is an image of the courtyard inside the school. Not many students are seen using it. It...
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This the floor plan of the first floor of curie. I plan to change the entrance, courtyard and...
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This image shows the courtyard from a different perspective.
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Karns High School Addition Plan, Knoxville, TN

Identify the problem you want to solve based on the information you have collected.

Explore at least three possible solutions, each of which will no doubt help you as you search for the best addition to your school.

  • What could your ideas look like?
  • How would it change the landscape of your school?
  • Who will benefit most from your design solution?

Try to answer these questions visually through sketching, and in words by taking notes.

AlexU's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
These are a few ideas of what I think should be changed or added in the areas I took pictures of.
This is a rough sketch of the lunchrroom and I changed right side of it so that both lunchrooms can...
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This is a rough drawing of the entrance for curie. What I added here are is the bike shelter on the...
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This is a rough sketch of the courtyard. In this sketch i turned the courtyard into a trackfield.
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This is also a rough sketch of the courtyard. In this sketch I gave it a second floor that has...
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This rough sketch is of the lunch room. What I changed here is I added extra lunch lines on the...
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This sketch is of the library. What I changed here is I added a seperate section for the books,...
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This is a sketch of the library, but in this one I used the the right side of the room for more...
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Fridley High School Addition Plan, Fridley, MN

From the previous step, where you developed multiple solutions to the design problem, you should select one of your designs.

  • What is your favorite design? Why?
  • What aspects of your school would it improve?
  • Who would benefit most from your new design?
  • What materials would you be using, and why?

Ideally you will want to create plans of some kind to communicate your final vision, so start to sketch site plans, elevations, and even a floor plan if necessary.

AlexU's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
These are the ideas i liked best out of the the others i thought of for these places.
This is a model of the entrance. I added bike stands inside the entrance of the school. I also made...
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This is a picture of inside the entrance to have a better view of what is inside.
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This is an image of the courtyard. Here I have added tables so students can go outside to eat when...
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This is another image of the courtyard. Here it shows that I have added stairs to the second floor...
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This image shows how the side of the building now looks after adding more room to the cafeteria.
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This is an image of the lunchroom. Here I have added more space to it and joined two separate...
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Here is an image of the library. What I did here is add more space for computers and tables by...
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Alexander Graham Bell School Addition, Chicago

Present your final design to your class, to get feedback before completing your project. If you talked to other people while working on and researching for this project, show them your design and get their feedback. If they talked to you before, they will want to see what you’ve created! Take notes during these conversations, and try to understand their suggestions before deciding if you wish to make any changes to your final design.

Carefully take stock of feedback from others and do your best to find the information that will help you finalize your project. Someone might tell you something seemingly small, but that bit of information might be the difference between a good project and a great one.

AlexU's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
These Images show rendered areas of the school that I changed and elevations.
This is a rendered image of the media center. here you can see how the lights of the ceiling light...
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Here is the image of the lunch room that has been joined with the other one to give more space.
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This is an image of the floor plan for the lunch room. Here it is more visible that that the rooms...
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In the courtyard what has been added are tables and 2 stairways to get to the second floor.
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here is an image of the the courtyard in the floor plan with dimensions and a better view of what...
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here is the north elevation for the school. Here you are able to see the entrance of the school and...
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This is an image of the floor plan for the media center. It is more clear to see that the room is...
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