Program & Review

Following the review we had last Friday I received positive feedback on the school proposal accompanied by questions and concerns over how a school would share the same footprint as a high rise, high density, housing facility. One of the biggest factors in question (among several others) was the issue of safety for the students. To address these issues,  I took a step back to re-evaluate the core mission and purpose I had imagined for my proposal:

• Charter school focusing on sustainability.
• Full integration into surrounding community.
• Widespread learning not limited to students.
• Flexible use spaces to maximize usability.
• Enhance and incorporate elements of the SoWa green-way plan.

With these goals in mind, I had originally programmed a facility that incorporated school spaces interwoven with housing space and flex spaces available for use by both students and residents at set times (gym, library, auditorium, etc). The main idea driving the integration of housing was to enhance and encourage resident interaction with the knowledge and exhibits presented by the school to encourage widespread community learning and awareness of the sustainability lessons being taught in the school. This symbiotic relationship was furthered explored by the biomimicry study I did on the inner workings of a coral reef; where hundreds of completely different species coexist in relative symbiosis.

Opportunity for “trimming the fat” and relocation?

Having said all that, I have begun to question the necessity for direct integration of the two very different programmatic elements. If a stand alone school can provide flex space for community use and still have a strong connection to nearby facilities such as public transportation, universities, and other high schools; wouldn’t that be successfully blending into and engagement of the fabric of the existing community? Is there really a need to incorporate housing in the same footprint when the school would already be located close to existing housing developments and public transportation? I’m now inclined to think not. If I can create a school in a central location that is able to engage and take advantage of nearby resources while providing flex space, I think it will have accomplished the “integration”, “engaging”, and “symbiotic” elements I aimed to incorporate.

My next question is whether or not the site I chose is still appropriate for a now downsized program consisting of just the school and flex spaces. Without much explanation, I can tell you that it is entirely too large for a program of this size. Even when the housing was still a component, the chosen site seemed a bit on the large side.

New Site, Improved Direction

I still feel like the SoWa is a great place for a school of the caliber I am proposing. Especially with it’s growing improvements in accessibility and relationships with the growing OHSU campus. A new opportunity has emerged in the future vacancy of the Zidell shipyard. Currently, ship dismantling operations are still underway in the facility but will soon cease, leaving a vacant industrial building ripe for adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse has always been something that has greatly interested me. In fact, the very first post on this blog outlined three main areas of inspiration I wanted to look at for my thesis, one of which was adaptive reuse. It can be argued that “the most economical/eco-friendly building is the one you don’t have to build.”

The Zidell facility sits on site that is ideal for a public school to make connections to it’s surroundings. There is a public transportation hub directly adjacent to the site along with the OHSU campus readily available for the school to develop a relationship with that will benefit and enhance the learning experience of the students. Two of my younger siblings currently attend a “Health & Science” school in Beaverton which is tailored to two specialized areas of college prep: medicine and engineering. This type of model is ideally suited for the south waterfront. A partnership with OHSU, the ecology of the Willamette river, and the incorporation of sustainable teaching would create a school well suited to educate youth about current worldwide issues.

The adaptive reuse opportunity, coupled with the potential for community integration at the Zidell site has much more promise for the school and learning objectives I’m proposing than my initial site decision. The school’s relationship with nearby resources and its ability to provide flex space to the residents of the community will become the symbiotic relationship I originally sought out to achieve.