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| Credits |
Thank you to the anonymous photographer for this month's header image.
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If you are not aware that we have a problem in America with childhood obesity, then get off the treadmill and look around! This month's photo was taken at a weekend outing last summer. In one photo I have attempted to convey the problem. It is not my intention to criticize or make fun of overweight people. Yet, seeing is believing and controversial photos can sometimes lead to action!
So you say "What can I do, I only design, commission, teach in, manage, (you fill in your job) our schools? While I do not have all the answers, I do know that we'd better get a handle on the problem soon or it's going to get worse - much worse! I also know that individuals around the country (and world) have come up with ideas on their own that they are putting into practice in their schools to help address the problem. Design Professionals also have ideas that they've incorporated into their latest designs. We need to give these great ideas wide exposure so that schools and children everywhere can benefit. Schooldesigner.com is dedicated to improving K-12 school design, and that includes designs and practices that will improve the fitness of our children. We've published articles in the past on Fitness, and we will publish more if we receive the ideas from you to disseminate to our other readers.
In this Special Edition of our newsletter, we're showcasing the four Collabetition entries for fitness that we received. That is it. Only four. So, they were not judged by a distinguished panel. Instead they are getting special recognition in hopes that you will be inspired to share your fitness ideas with us. For the next Collabetition we want to have at least twenty more!
So, join with us in showcasing design ideas that help reduce childhood obesity. We are in this race together.
Never critical. Never judging. Always here to help.
Joel K. Sims, AIA
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WEIGHING IN ON FITNESS |
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ALL AROUND PLAY
by Landscape Structures, Inc.
Chinle Elementary School, Chinle, Ariz.: This progressive school serves nearly 600 children in grades four through six on the Navajo Reservation 165 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz. In the spring of 2007, teachers Cammie Natay and Melissa Martin challenged their fifth-grade class to help design a new playground that would be appropriate for all the children in their school.
"Melissa and I were growing tired of hearing our children complain that there was nothing for them to do on the playground, and we largely agreed with them," says Natay.
The playground system that the children helped to design included three arching hemispheres of play events all linked together in continuous play fashion by a series of curved overhead ladders, sweeping cable climbers, challenging Wobble PodsTM and innovative Slalom GlidersTM.
"The students really like the innovative design of the playground equipment with its unusual play events, and their imaginations went wild when they thought about all the ways they could play on it," said Natay. "In addition, we saw that this was a system that could accommodate many children at one time."
"Now the children use it as a piece of fitness equipment," says Natay, "and they've made up games for it. I taught summer school and physical education this year and I asked the children, 'What can we do with this new equipment to stay fit?' They came up with all kinds of stuff, such as trying to move through the entire play system from one end to the other without ever touching the ground."
DYNAMIC FITNESS
by HMC Architects
Everett Alvarez High School, Salinas, CA: Before construction of the pool, this school's athletics focused on baseball and basketball. With the addition of the 50-m x 25-yd Aquatic Center, used primarily for swimming and water polo instruction, a new type of physical education and level of competition is available. It creates an additional opportunity for personal growth, health, and achievement.
The aquatic center is used by both the school and private groups in the region, thus forging a new relationship with the community. The complex is tied in to the existing campus through its link to the locker room building along the west side of the pool, which provides locker rooms, showers, and additional restrooms. While the pool could have been situated further to the east, it would have broken the relationship with the school's existing facilities, and district administrators wanted the aquatic center to have both a distinct identity and an organic connection to the campus.
The exterior "boathouse" envelope reflects the unique nature of the facility's program, making a strong statement of "home field" identity, and establishing a visual cue to direct visitors. The view across the edgeless pool offers a clear link to the surroundings.
Sustainable design features are incorporated in the aquatic center. For example, a continuous band of clerestory windows provides daylight to all spaces, reducing the need for artificial lighting. Also, high-efficiency pool equipment and a pool cover work to reduce energy consumption.
GREEN ON GREEN
by Akol & Yoshii, Inc. Architects
Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, Calif.: The outdoor sports complex at Dougherty Valley High School was designed to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community. There is a 2,800-seat outdoor stadium with an all-weather track, two baseball fields, two softball fields, and eight lighted tennis courts. Additionally, there is an adjoining 50-meter Olympic-size pool with locker facilities.
The educational facility needs of the area are being met through a partnership of the city, the land developer and the school board. One outcome of this partnership is the development of a centralized system run by the city to provide reclaimed and recycled water to the school and other end users for irrigation and watering. The baseball/softball fields have natural turf playing surfaces, which are irrigated using the recycled water supplied by the city. The watering is controlled by a state-of-the art irrigation system, which has features to allow the staff to control and monitor the system from off-site.
Other areas of the campus, which includes 300,000 square feet of buildings and grounds, needing irrigation are also supplied using the innovative recycled water system developed by the partnership.
Additional "green" features are the synthetic turf on the stadium field and a recycled rubber surface for the surrounding track. The synthetic turf minimizes yearly maintenance and water usage while providing a year-round playing surface for football, soccer, and other sports. The energy-efficient lighting systems of the outdoor venues use sodium vapor fixtures to meet the stringent requirements of Title 24 (the California Building Standards Code).
PS 70 X POOL
by Macrae-Gibson Architects
PS 70, Bronx, NYC, NY: The pool at PS 70 in the Bronx, NYC, is designed to provide a bright, lively, and inviting place for elementary students to learn basic concepts in physical fitness that will last their entire lives. In the United States, 25 percent of children under 18 are currently overweight or obese, putting them at elevated risk for Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and numerous other health risks. The purpose of the swimming facility is to create a space of physical education in which childhood obesity can be best addressed while, at the same time, providing children an experience that is enjoyable and fun, and thereby helping them to absorb the physical education being offered.
The pool is located directly below a skylight, surrounded by new decks with ramps for access by the disabled. The vertical dimension of the pool area connects the elements of light and water, while the decks surrounding the pool are connected horizontally by ceramic mosaic tile stripes of varying width and color.
The facility provides ramps and lifts to assist disabled students to swim, thereby acknowledging their health concerns yet, at the same time, lifting the spirit through the use of color, geometry, and natural light.
The overall intent is to create a unique place of physical learning and self awareness within the school. Clearly, the space created meets that goal and provides the children a fun place to unconsciously exercise and strengthen their developing bodies.
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| CALL FOR FITNESS PROJECTS |
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| You Can Contribute!
Do you have a great idea that you've put into practice at your school that helps to promote fitness? Do you have an innovative design the interests children and entices them into activities that promote physical fitness?
If so, plan to submit it to our Second Annual Design Collabetition. Sign up for the Collabetition and enter the Fitness Category and receive $100.00 off the entry fee.
Discount expires June 15.
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