Atascocita Springs-Element 2: Discovery Courtyard

The design team for Atascocita Springs Elementary asked the question: Can the school provide the students with opportunities for learning which were more experiential in nature? In response to this question, the design team for the school decided to create a Discovery Courtyard that would accommodate a range of learning experiences. In keeping with the thematic content of the school, outdoor learning experiences in the courtyard would focus on energy and water resources, and would exhibit features of wind and solar energy conversion, physical forces, ecological systems, and sustainability.
The Discovery Courtyard is shared mutually between the library and cafeteria, with direct visibility from the Main Street. Within the courtyard an arbor provides built-in seating for outdoor classes. The garden is planted and maintained by the students, with water irrigation supplied by the rainwater harvesting cistern. Also clean energy resource features such as the photovoltaic panels and wind turbine can be seen nearby.