INTRODUCTION THE EDUCATION EXCHANGE: A TEACHER’S VILLAGE IN CAMDEN, NJ STUDENT: BRIAN KIM ADV.: JOHN DEFAZIO
Situated in one of the country’s worst areas of crime, poverty, and matriculation rates lies an intervention to improve an ailing city. A broad masterplan was created in the center of Camden City, NJ which encompasses a new transit hub center, a city park, residential developments, office spaces, and a swath of of schools of all grade levels. The heart and anchor of the project is an innovative high school juxtaposed to the east of City Hall symbolizing the city’s commitment to education. The school utilizes a teacher residency program, in collaboration with neighboring universities, which attracts graduate students from all over the country to work and teach collaboratively. The interior follows pedagogical trends towards smaller focused learning environments with many articulated spaces overlapping forming soft boundaries while still maintaining a collective community in an urban setting.
SITE DESCRIPTION The site of the projects masterplan is in the heart of Camden’s city center. The site of the project’s sole focus is a high school is adjacent to City Hall. New Jersey Transit’s Walter Rand Transportation Center is located at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Broadway. In addition to being a hub for New Jersey Transit (NJT) buses in the Southern Division, Greyhound Lines, the PATCO Speedline and River Line make stops at the station. The site has encompasses a lrge public greenspace with ties to area transportation. Large universities such as Rowan and Rutgers are adjacent and provide crucial connections in creating an educational hub. In addition, there is strong site ties to area businesses, corporations, and healthcare institutions.
PROGRAM The focus of this thesis is creating an innovative high school at the heart (generator/anchor/catalyst) of this education reform master plan of Camden. The design is be the keystone/centerpiece of the new educational facilities in camden. The purpose of the school is to improve the effectiveness and skill sets of teachers in a very modern era where students are learning quicker and must be supported by competent teachers. The school utilizes a teacher residency programs (proven to be effective in many other troubled cities) in collaboration with neighboring universities. Spaces are designed much like modern office spaces; flexible space that can accommodate an endless array of tasks. Masterplan ~86.8 acres w/ 2.8 million square feet of programmed development (transit center, community center, 6 acre civic park, residential developments w/ ground floor retail, and office space). High School (grades 9-12) 915,000SF (teacher residency seminar space and conference suites, learning studios, outdoor learning space, collaboration incubators, storage, special focus labs, individual learning pods, group learning spaces, break out space, arts/media labs, make lab, dining/ cafeteria, school store, display gallery, outdoor climbing wall).
CASE STUDIES 230 Halsey Street Newark, NJ USA Type: Urban Redevelopment + Charter School(s) Footage: 90000 Completion: 2013 “Teachers Village is one of the most exciting of several new urban development initiatives in New Jersey. The construction and design of 230 Halsey Street reflects our commitment to the revitalization of downtown Newark. The new building is located at the center of the development. Natural light has been an important consideration and all the different classrooms and commercial spaces on the ground floor will be full of natural light with various views to the neighborhood. 230 Halsey Street will contribute to the rich urban fabric of Newark and the vibrant social activity along the urban corridor of Halsey Street.� -Richard Meier A unique neighborhood revitalization program, the project aims to create a nucleus of 24/7 activity around the four educational and childcare facilities for 1,000 children, with 200 units of workforce housing, for all Newark teachers, and a lively mix of street-side retail establishments to be run by local entrepreneurs in its eight buildings. It is one of the first developments in the country to pursue the LEED Neighborhood Development (ND) designation, meaning that it aims to realize principles of smart growth and urbanism, in addition to green building practices.
CASE STUDIES Millenium High School New York, NY USA Type: High School Footage: 9600 Grades: 9-12 Completion: 2003 Our design centered on the theme of shifting from the old paradigm of learning to a new paradigm — from the traditional classroom setting within a rectangular room with the teacher leading the dialogue in front to active information exchange that can happen anywhere within the school’s perimeter, emulating real life. LEARNING AND GATHERING NICHES. In this school, circulation has been combined with program space. The circulation areas have been repurposed as group workspace, individual niches and impromptu gathering spaces. Additionally, the interconnecting stair is designed as bleacher-like seating to encourage socialization, which is an important component of this education model. FLEXIBLE TEACHING AREAS. The classrooms promote alternative ways of teaching — moving far away from the traditional “talking head” at the front of the room. For example, the students’ tables are castored to allow for infinite configurations including project tables, auditorium style rows and horseshoe configuration. Each room has two white boards, two teaching walls supporting adult & student-centered learning. VISUAL STIMULATION. Since the school is located in 35-story office building within a dense, urban environment, it was important to allow natural light to penetrate the space, instilling the school with the city’s energy. The finish palette responds to the context and results from interviews with students and teachers, who requested a “live” space that is also comfortable. Vibrant colors and warm woods dominate the palette.
FALL REVIEW The masterplan exercise conducted for Fall review was crucial in allotting the necessary densities needed to support a hub. Most transit-oriented hubs are supported fundamentrally and commerce however this site was unique in that housing and education were found to be vital in supporting a hub at this site. A modern-classicist public space/park defines edges and boundaries to the site while giving the city a much needed public space along an established ‘Greenway’ route masterplanned throughout the county. A country administration building was the site picked for a highschool and masterplaned to a new loction with an improved site.
TECHNICAL REVIEW
FINAL REVIEW The design of the high school is to be a culmination of the latest trends in pedagogy in a new school model - an urban high school village. Trends consist of many different types of learning spaces and shying away from the typical 30-student, 900-square-foot classrooms that both support and often dictate teacher-directed whole-group instruction. These environments will not support student learning of 21st century skills and will be seen in the coming years as outmoded learning spaces requiring a building retrofit. Spaces now include the student home base, the collaboration incubator, storage space, specialized and focused labs, project space and wet areas, outdoor learning space, display space, breakout space, the individual pod, group learning space, presentation space, and teacher meeting space.