Site Opportunities and Constraints

[The 1996 Nueva School Master Plan Page 7-8]

The 2012 Nueva School Master Plan Update is sensitive to the existing site conditions and constraints of the site.

Open Space

The Nueva School is a campus in the woods. The natural resources of the site are highly valued by the school community and the surrounding neighbors. Development is restricted to areas of disturbed landscape and already environmentally impacted areas. The North area of the site has not been included within the scope of this master plan to sustain it as a valuable natural habitat and a buffer to the surrounding neighbors. Woods in the southern portion of the site are retained and provide an opportunity for more direct engagement with the landscape through outdoor learning and play. Several groves of existing mature oak trees are designated as sites for rehabilitation to engage the students and school community in active regeneration of the understor y vegetation to rejuvenate the local ecosystems.

Steep Slopes

The Nueva School campus drops more than 60’ vertical feet across its length. There are ver y few sites on campus with a slope of less than 30%. New buildings are located on the flattest remaining areas of the site to minimize sitework and retaining walls. An exception is the theater, located at the site of the existing Middle School C,D,E,F buildings. This location takes advantage of the slope to minimize the theater’s perceived bulk by tucking it into the side of the hill

Prevailing wind

Existing outdoor spaces can often be uncomfortable due to strong winds. The proposed buildings provide shelter from prevailing winds and have entrances on the leeward side. Several lines of trees provide natural windbreaks across the site.

Visual Impacts

The Master Plan concentrates almost all new development in the center of the site away from neighboring properties in an effor t to consolidate development and to limit the visual impact on neighbors.

Traffic

The Nueva School conducted extensive traffic studies both on-campus and at several external sites to determine the potential impact of school growth on existing parking and traffic patterns. In the proposed scheme, a new drop-off loop helps to make the dropoff and pick-up activities on campus run smoothly.

Fire Protection

The new drop-off loop exceeds the minimum 32’ turning radius required by the Town of Hillsborough for emergency vehicles. A 20’ wide path with a minimum vertical clearance of 13’6” is maintained through the new MS court for emergency fire truck access. Fire access is maintained within 150’ of any campus building. The Lower Loop Road is designated as a secondary means of emergency vehicle access for the gym and theater per the 1996 Master Plan.

The Lower Loop Road is restricted in width but provides the 13’6” clear height for emergency access per the 1996 Master Plan, provided that parking here is restricted and flammable vegetation is removed on either side of the road.