School Architecture
I collaborated with students, teachers, and school leaders in my Environmental Committee to plan a garden and social space on campus.
Here’s how it went:
Needs identification:
Initially, I thought of only building a community garden. However, in talking with other people and assessing what Dunn’s campus needed, I also realized that if we were to build a new space, we should also include a study space & outdoor classroom and some form of event space for community events/parties.
Location
The best option for location was the empty lot behind one of the girls' dorms. It has access to irrigation and electricity, and has ample space for a large project. This location would also allow for expanding the lounge area of the girls' dorm outdoors.
Proposed design
Garden: Most of the space consists of lawn and raised-bed gardens for planting vegetables and herbs for the dorm and school kitchens.
Social/Event space: a 35 by 60' foot space is lined with string lights and has decomposed granite flooring for school dances, dorm meetings, etc.
Studying/Learning space: designated pergola/pavilion building for meetings, classes, and student studying after school.
Additional renderings
Implementation + Budgeting
Balancing what was needed for this design was difficult. My final estimated budget was $44,500, which was broken into 9 building phases over the next two years. Read more about it below.
