School Campus Master Planning Checklist

Master Planning is the appropriate approach towards defining scope, budget/s and schedule/s to modernize and build facilities for the long-term view of any school campus.

While there are several ways to approach envisioning solutions for potentially emerging issues and needs, they usually involve a tangible and studious process characterized by analysis and calculated speculation, hereby drafted as the following checklist:

1. School Demographic Analysis: Determining whether a campus is growing or shrinking in terms of student enrollment is the first step. Bussing strategies and patterns, if applicable, are also analyzed.

2. DSA History: Determining the way the growth of the campus has been processed by DSA is crucial to find potential liabilities and roadblocks in expansion or modernization projects.

3. Funding Analysis: How to best match logistic information with funding programs to maximize project potential and feasibility.

4. School Curriculum: The direction that a school curriculum dictates often influences the master planning process, especially for facility-specific items (sports, science, tech, for example).

5. Environmental Data: The surface conditions, such as drainage, waste management, and maintenance and operations programs are deeply ingrained in the broad management of campus growth and must be thoroughly mastered.

6. Infrastructure: Locating the utility system of a campus is often referred to as a backbone. As such it must be optimized and must have a future built into it.

7. Site Planning: The matching of the school site plan with the class schedule often shows trends in how conditions are over and under utilized, and provides vital clues to determined and define expansion / modernization plans. Site circulation flow, car parking and access is a part of this as well.

8. Spatial Analysis: The study of qualities and scale of campus elements – height, use of materials, fenestration systems, open spaces, canopies and circulation pieces is inventoried.

9. Identity: The purposeful combination of material, building forms and color often add up to a school identity, which must always be addressed and enhanced.

10. Process Management: The mechanics of the process usually dictates master planning procedure and supports a communication based approach for successful client-architect relations.

11. Campus Security: Needless to say, the safety of students is primarily considered. From systems implementation to passive spatial management, all options are put on the table.

12. ADA, Structural Integrity and Fire Life Safety: Code compliance relative to Accessibility, Structural Integrity of Facilities and Fire Department, constitutes an essential chapter of master planning.

13. Sustainability: The impact of existing facilities on environment and resources is thoroughly catalogued for possible optimization.

While every master planning process is weighed differently, the above list should help in producing a complete and thorough study.

Housing the Arts

In a report recently released. The dominant economy in Southern California is now creativity. The question to the California educational system is: "Are students being prepared for this new economy?"

The big push for California schools was, and continues to be, meeting some basic needs of students. The first needs were safe schools, accessibility upgrades, accommodating high growth, etc. Facilitating arts education was perhaps viewed as a secondary concern. This report may be an instigation to changing that point of view.

In addition to conventional schools adapting to a renewed arts focus, there are Charter Schools springing up with project-based learning as a core value. Art Center College of Design is launching their LA Design High School, and we have the Los Angeles County School of the Arts. In the Public Schools there are tremendous examples of schools and teachers that have sponsored great programs in the arts.

In addition to needing more teachers who can teach arts-base programs, schools need updated facilities. The performing and visual arts continue to be inadequately housed...perhaps this report will incite change.

Charter Schools in LA Dealt Setback

As reported in the LA Times today, yesterday was a mixed bag of news in the world of Charter Schools in Los Angeles. While I was at the California Charter Schools Conference big news was happening at LAUSD. Green Dot Public Schools was denied 8 charters. It's questionable whether or not that will be upheld if it goes to court as could be likely. A charter organization that meets certain minimum criteria has to be chartered by law. At the same time, Academia Semillas del Pueblo had its charter renewed for another five years. The school had become a pawn in the immigration debate primarily because of its spanish and english immersion program. This progressive educational program will now get a chance to continue to grow and serve the community around El Sereno, where the school is housed.

LA 2000+, New Architecture in Los Angeles

John Chase recently wrote a book LA 2000+, New Architecture in Los Angeleswhich compiled 30 projects completed since 2000 in Los Angeles. The book includes such notable projects as Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall and Morphosis' CALTRANS Building. Interestingly, it also includes 3 school projects.

The project on the cover of the book is the Pilibos Armenian School in East Hollywood by Studioworks. The gym is a modified Butler building and the library is a hovering boat-like structure. The irregularly placed windows and bookshelves punctuate a completely plywood-wrapped interior.

At Duarte High School, Osborn completely reinterprets a campus of 1960's era concrete structures. A new administration facility straddles the existing building leaving remnants of the pre-existing concrete. The new campus entry is now visible from the adjacent 210 freeway due to a signifcantly scaled entry element and signage. The entire front of the campus is wrapped in a newly constructed lunimous interior hall to attenuate the road noise.

A recent Rios, Clementi, Hale project for LAUSD also gets mention. Their modest primary centers are constructed from standardized modules, but use color and graphics to distinguish the otherwise straightforward structures. Courtyards, fences and facades make up the core of the project.

Schools Exhibits in NY

At the Center for Architecture in New York, there are two exhibits going on simultaneously. First is an exhibit of 31 schools from Europe with a focus on Switzerland. Sponsored in part by the ETH in Zurich, which takes every opportunity to proliferate the work of their countrymen. At the same time there is another exhibit called Schools of the Future - US Case Studies. There are some great projects included, but we've seen them all before. It is based on a book Schools and Kindergartens by Mark Dudek.

On Monday, March 12 there will be a panel discussion Schools of the Futureassociated with the exhibit. Speakers include Claire Weisz, Roger Duffy, and Ria Stein.

Writing an RFP/RFQ

As a place to start, it may be helpful to offer some resources about writing an RFP/RFQ. It may not be the most dramatic starting point, but it's important and it is a key factor in getting a project started well.

As the administrator of a construction program or individual project, the selection of the team that will work with you to fulfill a facilities vision is one of the most important steps in the process. The RFP can be a valuable tool in extracting the information you will need to make a good decision and convince your board and stakeholders that you have made the right decision.

The process of writing an RFP can be an intimidating one. The RFP speaks for you and your District and will be the first communication you make with your eventual team. It will set the tone for the type of client you will be. You are in the position of offering work to architects and construction professionals.

A Two-Way Audition - The most important part of picking your team is making a good match. The big firms may be too impersonal; the local firms might not have the expertise, the specialist is not general enough. You also need to find a firm that will be energized to work with you. At times you may feel like a pack of vultures will have descended upon you. But realize that these same professionals are also auditioning you. Each with a limited capacity, firms will be making sure that you are someone that they will work want to work with. So to keep your pool broad; realize that your RFP will give a lot of clues about your side of the relationship.

Vision - The design community will come energized if you spend a moment writing something in the RFP/RFQ about your vision. Explain what makes your District/School special. The true problem solving team will shine when given the opportunity to contemplate how to address the particulars of your situation through building.

Experience - The design of schools has a few specific aspects of the process that are important. Familiarity with the Division of the State Architect. Schools are subject to more stringent construction standards, cost more, and have some unique drawing conventions that can all contribute to challenges without experience.

Budgets - School budgets are tight and often fixed. Request examples of last-minute adjustments to projects due to a high estimate or reactions to budget challenges. Remember that schools cost money and there are no miracles...but there are smart ways to do things. There are ways to make decisions in the interest of the whole project.

So many RFP's that I recieve are so devoid of personality and so constrained that it is a wonder if our personality comes through. Realize that you are balancing evenhanded reviewing against a chance to have someone show you who they really are.

So whether you write an RFP yourself, hire a consultant to write it, or copy the neighboring school's RFP you are putting something out in the world that says something about you. Many documents solicit responses that seem only able to identify the successful team as the one with the least flaws. Contrarily when I have helped districts write an RFP, my priority is to have the document solicit the responses that they will enjoy reading and will find someone they want on their team.

Welcome

Schools are an important part of the civic fabric of any city. They are centers of community, public space, provocation to children in the interest of learning, and often at a recognizable scale in urban and suburban situations. As such, it would seem that schools would be at the center of discussion and debate and intelligent criticism.

The interest of this forum is to discuss issues at play in the design and construction of schools. It is hoped that information posted here will be of interest to architects, engineers, contractors, teachers, parents and school administrators. We hope that an informed public will be better able to advocate for good schools.

Additionally, as the site fills out, it will become a valuable resource to all involved in the collection of important information and knowledge sharing.

Thanks for reading.