|
Boulder Valley School District is constructing a new K-5 school on the site of the outmoded Columbine Elementary School.
Parks & Gardens provided a site plan that includes a playground modeled on the Denver Public Schools "Learning Landscapes" program, a multi-purpose athletic field and a loop trail that ties the school site to the neighborhood and an adjacent city park.
Relocating the school on the existing site benefits the City's Storm Management Master Plan. The reconfigured drainage plan provides a framework for a natural area component in the Learning Landscape that creates opportunities for interpretation, promotes water conservation and reduces long-term maintenance.
A design advisory team (DAT) comprised of teachers, administrators, parents and neighbors took an interactive approach in this project. DAT met with the design team throughout the project in a series of seven design charettes to assure community ideas were incorporated into the design and any concerns were addressed. These meetings also served as a conduit for the flow of information both to and from the rest of the staff and the neighborhood.
|
Improvements include narrowing the park road to create space for grass lined swales consistent in appearance with the sub-irrigated meadows to filter storm water fl owing draining to Duck Lake.
(above & below) SketchUp illustrations of proposed landscape improvements
|
