High Point Elementary: A design for community, ecology and learning

by Kristin Kildall

Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee:
Asst. Professor Julie Johnson , Department of Landscape Architecture

Committee member: Associate Professor Kristina Hill, Department of Landscape Architecture
2003

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the role of a schoolyard as a community amenity, integrate ecological functions into a school site, and design a schoolyard that can provide opportunities for outdoor learning.

The High Point neighborhood in West Seattle is currently undergoing change. The subsidized housing will be demolished and redeveloped into mix-income rental and for-sale units with the aid of a Hope VI grant. Seattle's Office of Sustainability and the Environment is working with designers and Seattle Housing Authority to use sustainable practices in the redevelopment. Currently, the school site is the only portion of the neighborhood that is not being redeveloped.

Before designing, I underwent a literature review on sustainable design, schoolyards and participation. Sustainable design can include establishing connections between people and the environment, designing to reveal natural systems and storytelling as a means to sustainability. In reviewing schoolyards, I studied the value of urban schoolyards as natural spaces, opportunities for outdoor learning and expeditionary learning as a curriculum. Because I wanted to include students in the design process, I reviewed literature on children's participation.

I examined the effects of participation on children and designers and levels of participation. To learn from precedents, I interviewed principals and a designer who made changes to Seattle schoolyards to restore ecological functions and provide environments for learning. I also reviewed sites that included elements and approaches that I found inspiring.

To guide my design process, I developed goals based on literature I reviewed. I designed a set of lessons for a fourth-grade class and took them through a traditional design process; from site analysis to schematic design.I used the information I collected to inform my design.

I designed a plan using West Seattle's topography as a framework for a sustainable and educational schoolyard that is welcoming to the community. After I developed a site plan, I reflected on the design process and the design itself to determine how well I met my design goals. Overall, I learned about what works and what needs to be improved in my design process to meet the goals I set.