Our Insights
The Probability of Change by Sloan Harris, AIA, Principal
This page Things have advanced a great deal from a one-room school of the past to the dynamic, next generation learning spaces of today as exhibited by the tiered collaboration at the West Campus of Katy High School, Katy ISD. Opposite A graph highlighting growth and change within the industry; VLK has adapted to changes in market by integrating new, sustainable technology into the schools we design to support instruction; wind generator and solar panel at Pope Elementary, Cy-Fair ISD
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hanges in our social, environmental, and technical norms over the past decade have demanded adaption in established design practices of educational facility planning. We have witnessed and benefited from an age of technology that is exponentially accelerating so fast that we have no time to even reflect on what we have just experienced. The breadth of this adaption in our practice, or should I say advancement, is perhaps more measurable now than ever due to the heightened changes in the aforementioned variables, all colliding at once. One catalyst for change is an elevated concern about the environmental impact of our buildings. As that concern may have
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only been previously expressed in an ecological sense, we see it now in how our buildings impact not only our ecology, but also our sociology and economy. We are balancing the financial expectations and responsibilities our districts face, with providing the most innovative learning environments for our students, as well as with volatile construction costs and capricious education legislation. Maybe these are not new changes. For the past 30 years, VLK has led our profession in designing innovative learning environments, utilizing the most efficient and durable building systems possible to maximize our clients’ investments. In addition, we don’t believe any of our clients have ever asked for a school that was designed with opulence, to
