HONOR AWARD

Represents outstanding accomplishment in the profession of landscape architecture.

ODYSSEY ELEMENTARY

SITE PLAN

LEED Gold certified and the first “net-zero school” in Utah, Odyssey Elementary pushes the boundaries for school design.

The site and landscape design is no exception. Learning opportunities are extended beyond the classroom as the Utah Education Core standards are represented in the site design with the Landscape Architect’s theme “Bodies in Motion: The Animal Kingdom”.

Bodies in Motion: The Animal Kingdom - Footfall patterns of Four-Legged Animals

Patterns in the landscape material represent the various foot-strike patterns of four-legged animals in motion. Interpretive signage and graphics (represented above right) teach about the landscape patterns.

Bodies in Motion: The Animal Kingdom - Hop

Concrete site walls “spring” back and forth, representing the spring-like motion of mammals that jump. Interpretive signage and graphics (represented above right) teach about the patterns in the site so the children can relate their surroundings to the world beyond.

Bodies in Motion: The Animal Kingdom - Swim/Fly

Children interact with site walls and paving patterns that represent the swirling vortices of birds and fish. Interpretive signage and graphics (represented above right) teach about the patterns in the site so the children can relate their surroundings to the world beyond.

The Swirling Vortices Courtyard:

Children love to play on the swirling vortices site walls. Notice the interpretive signage in the lawn area near the courtyard entry to the school, which explains, with vibrant illustrations, the vortices created by nature: birds and fish.

Swirling Vortices Courtyard

The site walls create interesting patterns within the landscape and reduce the amount of water necessary for the site in an area that might otherwise be turf.

Swirling Vortices Courtyard

The view from the courtyard toward the playground and mountains beyond.

Swirling Vortices Courtyard:

The flight pattern of birds creates an amphitheater available for teachers to use as an outdoor classroom space or performance stage.

The Main Entry

Swirling site walls welcome the children to the animal-themed school and provide a place for them to sit and wait to be picked up after school.

Water-wise Landscape and Irrigation

Drought-tolerant plant material with an efficient irrigation system to monitor evapotranspiration, achieves the Owner’s desire for reduced maintenance costs and a sustainable landscape design.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Educational opportunities extend beyond the classroom at Utah’s first “net-zero school”, designated LEED Gold. Rooted in Utah’s Educational Core Standards, the site and landscape express three different interactive concepts from the animal kingdom:

Footfall patterns of four-legged animals in motion are represented by massed plantings and paving patterns.
Swimming and flying create swirling vortices. Seat walls, pavement scoring, and plants convey the motion of flight.
Kangaroos use their bodies as springs to jump, represented by seat walls and curbs resembling springs.

This sustainable irrigation and landscape design responds to the school district’s overall goal of reducing irrigation water consumption.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

Accommodate the ground-source heat pump in the playing fields to achieve the goal of the first net-zero school in Utah.
Minimize landscape water consumption and maintenance costs for the LEED Gold school by utilizing drought-tolerant plant material and utilizing evapotranspiration monitoring on the grassy playfields.
Raise the bar of Utah school site and landscape design by extending educational opportunities beyond the walls of the school.
Express site and landscape learning objectives based on the Utah’s Core Standards.

ROLE OF THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

The Landscape Architect (LA) provided the “Bodies in Motion: The Animal Kingdom” theme for the site and landscape design, followed by the schematic drawings for the implementation of the theme. The LA worked jointly with the Architect to communicate the design intent, and then followed through with the landscape and irrigation drawings, in compliance with the Owner’s standards, to achieve the school district’s goal of reducing operating costs by reducing site maintenance and irrigation water consumption.

In order to help the teachers and students, as end-users, understand the design, the LA also provided information and graphics for interpretive signage to communicate the design intent and teach about the various animals in motion and the patterns created by their bodies.

PROJECT IMPORTANCE

Proves that a school with playfields can be sustainably designed and implemented to reduce irrigation water and maintenance costs.
Raises the bar for school site and landscape design to extend learning beyond the walls of the school.
Demonstrates the value a Landscape Architect can provide to the site design process, by expressing the purpose of a given project, in this case education, through the constructed landscape
Communicates the design intent to the end-user (students and teachers,) through interpretative signage, thereby solidifying the educational value of the design.