Designing a Responsive School Environment

Abstract

Davidson, North Carolina, a small active community on the urban fringe of Charlotte, has taken an interest in its facilities, and their appearance. As a result of Davidson's activism, its outmoded elementary school is being replaced. This has occurred as a result of recent bond issue that provided funds for a new 600 student elementary school. In anticipation of their new building, the Davidson teachers had organised, and began discussions about educational changes they would like to see occur. Recognising the community spirit and interest in this project, the county school planning administration awarded the contract for the new school to the Adams Group architects, because of their past experience in working effectively with community groups. The community involvement process initiated by the Adams Group and consulting architect, Henry Sanoff, consisted of a literature search, numerous interviews, and several workshops oriented towards students, teachers, parents, community members, and school planning representatives. The intent of these community events was to build consensus about the educational objectives of the new school in order that the places created in the building would complement and support those intentions. The project further demonstrates the impact of the participation process in thwarting school building conventions.