Summary

-The current space capacity of the Mira Loma cafeteria is 555 people for dining and 1100 people for assembly. Currently the cafeteria is used for breakfast & lunch during school hours, for drama class, senior breakfast, cheer practice, summer school PE, football spaghetti feed, and assemblies. The current space limitations in the cafeteria are lack of storage space and a very small kitchen. Some specific request proposed toward a renovated cafeteria are; round tables, booths, a music system, more attractive garbage cans, bigger kitchen, updated kitchen tools, seating area outside and air conditioning.

Exterior Building Design:
California’s public education system which also includes construction of school buildings is mainly supported by state sales and income tax revenues and also by local property taxes. These are supplemented with money from the federal government, the California State Lottery, and other funds made locally by school districts. Some of the challenges that were difficult to overcome with the cafeteria design were the limited area and some of the codes that limit the height of the building. Otherwise we could have many floors in cafeteria and use those floors for many beneficial means. The problems that the exterior of cafeteria are the space, doorways, and the use of the space that is available. During the lunch time there are many student jams due to not enough doorways, also there is a big space that is not used when the lunch starts. That space could give a little more space to the lines. Exterior color of Mira Loma cafeteria could also use some upgrading and eco-friendly technology to save energy and money. The cafeteria is plain, boring, inefficient and does not serve to its full potential, which elite design inc. will work to improve. I believe the original intent of the Mira Loma cafeteria was an auditorium, and that is the reason why we included a platform in cafeteria. The building that I researched weren’t quite famous, however the falling water was the most famous one due to its unsupported balcony, and how it blends into nature instead of destroying it. The buildings that I researched were meant to inspire me with some ways to make our cafeteria energy efficient, community friendly, and most importantly a great place for the students to spend their lunch or break time. It is also important to make it so there are no student jams etc. The areas that I will expand on is the right side of the cafeteria looking from the front hence there is some space that could be used instead of leaving it completely useless. Also, I will expand it with the width to give more space for lunch and other purposes. It is important for me to make use every single space available in order to make the cafeteria a pleasing place to be at. I will make sure to add shades from all sides from the rain and the sun because no one would like to leave the cafeteria and the things it has to offer just due to sun or the rain. There will be plenty of places where people will still enjoy their lunch or breakfast no matter how harsh the weathers are.

Interior Building Design:
Currently the Mira Loma cafeteria is lacking in many places. This includes the kitchen, bathrooms, and the seating. The current kitchen is considerably small and stuffy especially during lunch. The halls in the kitchen are small so it’s very uncomfortable when the staff needs to roll a cart and everyone has to stop what they are doing and move out of the way. Also the cafeteria is in a desperate need of a stronger air conditioning system because it gets considerably hot during the cooking and preparation time. To face these issues our team decided to increase the kitchen space and equip the staff with updated eco friendly materials. Also air conditioning and heating will be placed on the floor so that the air could travel upwards and reach the human faster instead of floating in the air above. The boys and girls bathrooms are also too small and often create a line that is hard to navigate around. This problem will be addressed by creating bigger bathrooms with more stalls and pleasing interior colors and décor. Full length mirrors in girl bathroom and air dryers so as to not waste trees. Another issue with the cafeteria is the lack of outside sitting area. Currently the inside sitting area is large enough, but many students like to eat outside. For that reason our team decided to have a second floor and a balcony so that the students can have more options. Also we will have bar tables along the windows so that the students can eat and enjoy the view.
The students use phones and sometimes laptops when inside the cafeteria. For this reason our team decided to place cushion couches and armchairs for comfort so that students can have a place to hang out and study. The current cafeteria is 59 by 20 meters and it can seat up to 555 people. Our team will enlarge the kitchen and bathrooms and add storage area and a garden in the middle which will take up a considering amount of space which is another reason why we decided to put up a second floor. This will create more seating space without taking up any kitchen space.
The cafeteria has two public entryways through which the students come in. The kitchen area is located on the right side of the cafeteria so the student goes in through the doors and up to the lines, that sometimes stretch out next to the tables. The lines then move up until the students enter into the food choice area, which resembles being under a balcony. Then the students make a u turn, pay and, come out on the same side. Our team decided to keep the doors on the sides, due to the addition of the garden, but the kitchen was moved to the left wall. Also our Director of Exterior Design came up with a system to make the traffic less, where the students make a big u turn from both sides and meet in the middle and spread out to several paying stands (sketch presented). Mrs. Kelly wanted a more appealing cafeteria and a comfortable seating area outside. She also wanted a bigger kitchen, updated equipment, attractive recycling/garbage cans, a possible community garden, and good air conditioning system.
The food will be prepared, stored, cooked, served, and cleaned up on the left side of the building, next to the F building. The staff will have a big kitchen area and a pantry/storage room on the right side. The staff will prepare and cook the food at the back of the kitchen, and then they will bring it up to the front window to where the students will come up and take it. The staff wills them clean up once again at the back. Our cafeteria will have eco friendly bamboo floors on both floors. It will have double panel glass windows, which will let the sun in but keep the heat out. Also the cafeteria will have brick walls on the outside, to keep the warmth in and the cold out during winter seasons. Inside the walls will be warm, soft earth colors to make it feel cozy and relaxing for the students. The Interior and Décor Designers got their inspiration from Starbucks, which always gives out a welcoming feel. The bathrooms will also be in appealing, light colors with air dryers, to save some trees and recyclable paper towels, to save time. The girls’ bathroom will also have full-length mirrors. We will extend the cafeteria upwards adding a second floor. We will also expand the kitchen area and the bathrooms and make them bigger and more comfortable with less traffic. Lastly we will add a community garden right in the middle of the cafeteria, which will ultimately take up some of the sitting area, but won’t be a problem due to the second floor seating and balcony. Concerning the stairs I had an idea to have two sets of stairs going around the cylinder shaped garden and coming up upstairs. We will also have an elevator on the right wall in the left side corner.

Interior Décor Design:
The type of seating that is currently used are old wooden table and chairs. The type of seating the will be used in the new cafeteria are tall cushion black bar chairs and black round table going around the garden. And regular square chairs for the rest of the first floor. For the first half of the second floor there will be black and grey modern sofas. For the second half there will be normal sized black cushion chairs. For the balcony we will keep in modern but simple black wooden chairs and table. The tables would be able to come together to make a bigger sitting for friends. The flooring for both first and second floor will be eco friendly bamboo. The lightning we will have are long paper chiffon lace circles hanging from the ceiling. The balcony lights (Look at sketch above).The main colors that will be used in the space are grey, black, white and red. For the safety of the school during the night we will include curtains. Some of the art work that we will include is city lights paintings. Most of them will hang from the side that the brick wall is on. Most of the inspiration came from the students and what my team and I could like to have in our future school as a cafeteria. We did look at some modern cafeteria and restaurant pictures which inspired us.

Landscape Design:
At Mira Loma High school cafeteria there is very few and poor landscaping. As you can observe from the pictures the only plants there are around the cafeteria are some bushes that are in front of the windows, a large oak tree and a small tree that was recently planted. According to the administration what cost the most for landscaping is the actual perches of the bushes, trees and chipped wood that is used under the trees. Watering and mentainance costs are low because the trees do not need as much watering. According to the administration the problems when updating landscape that can be potentially uncovered is that if the school will update better landscaping and even including a fountain the students will vandalize it , so that will mean more supervisors or teachers who volunteer to watch during lunch. Also when updating plants what needs to be kept in mind is the cost of maintaining it, such as how often does it need to be watered or how often does it need to be cleaned/cut. Walking in front of the cafeteria this afternoon I have noticed a problem that our recent landscape has which is the small chipped wood by the oak tree. Students walk over it and spread it all over the concret and on the stairs which makes a big mess. Also during the winter when it rains it smells pretty bad. Talking to the person in charge of the cafeteria one detail she mentioned is that it would be a great advantage for the cafeteria if they had a vegetable garden because it will help the budget and also be a good idea to have fresh produces available anytime. But after hearing her input not only was I inspired to make a garden but I was thinking of making a community garden where other people will have access to it as well. The garden will be inside the cafeteria surrounded by glass. This will be a new and creative idea. After my trip to San Francisco I was also inspired by their modern landscaping. One thing I loved the most was the open spaces on top of the buildings, so I thought of incorporating this idea in our project. I will have an open space on our 2nd floor for the students to enjoy and after school for the community to enjoy. Another inspiration and great idea is to have trees in front of the school and get rid of the bushes. The trees will not only look beautiful but during the hot summers it will keep some shade on our cafeteria and will lower some expenses. The location for storage of tools and materials for the landscaping will be on our first floor close to the garden. Also in the garden we will have a small shed for everyday watering and needed tools.

Community Relations:
Outside of school hours, the cafeteria is currently used by students and sometimes parents and staff, when they have concerts, cheer practice, testing, assemblies, and meetings. The cafeteria has limited use for different classes, events, and groups to meet in. It is very plain, there is not much space, and the lunch tables and extra chairs are stored by the back wall instead of an extra storage room. To open the cafeteria to the community, such as community garden or open space, it will come with certain expenses. You have to consider the parents, who come with small kids or babies. There has to be security for the kids. The bathrooms that the community will use will need to have a changing station for babies. The balconies that our team is planning to include on our second floor need to be child safe. Also, senior citizens and people with disabilities have to be considered. We need to have elevators to the second floor for the people who cannot climb stairs. Also, if there will be a few steps anywhere, we have to include ramps. Our building will need to be ADA compliant. The maximum slope for a ramp has to be 1:12. Other aspects to consider are doors, bathrooms, entrances, space and routes. When the area is opened for the community outside of school, more electricity will be used outside of school hours, and staff will need to stay to monitor the area. Also, security needs to be provided. We have to make sure that the students will stay safe. Our team decided to donate the back wall for the student art. Also, the right wall of the cafeteria will be reserved for a school mural. The front and staff parking lots are always open outside of school hours for residents to use when using the facility. The community can plant and take care of the community garden.

Sustainabuility and Energy:
The Government is involved in green building in schools when the U.S. Building Council (USGBC) made a LEED rating system in 2000. LEED basically gives the building owners a better way and enforces them to go eco-friendly. Also the Government helps the schools by giving grants for certain needs. Mira Loma doesn’t do much for “carbon footprint” because it has very old appliances that use a lot of energy and resources that could be reduced, if they had newer and some eco-friendly appliances.Some ideas to reduce resources and energy is Thermal Chimney, ukulele flooring or bamboo flooring, solar panels, solar cells, and water efficiency. Thermal Chimney push out hot air through the roof, in channels. Then natural air from the outside are pulled in from the floor vents to cool it without energy powered air conditioning. Ukulele and bamboo flooring is a very efficient source of flooring because unlike the normal trees that takes 20 years to fully muter, the ukulele and bamboo trees take 5 years to fully muter. This means more of that type of trees and easier and faster to replenish. Solar panel on the roof is a very efficient way of making energy, not only can they use the energy but also sell the unused energy to energy companies. Solar cells are an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It is made of photoelectric cell, which exposed to light can generate and support an electric current without being attached to any outside voltage source. Water efficiency is another eco-friendly way on saving and recycling water efficiently, for example have the roof slanted and directed to main water. San Juan school district saves energy and resources by shutting down the florescent lights and air conditioning at 3 o-clock everyday besides the week end they are off the whole day. Also the district works with SMUD to give the school an incentive to go green because SMUD will lower the cost if they save energy. Some local utilities that you can partner with to support sustainability and energy efficiency is SMUD, PG&E, and Heating and air.