A school focused on teaching students who have not been successful in traditional schools, needed to upgrade the interior of their reception area and create a space for students to decompress from the pressures of school.  Our approach was to talk first to the administrative leadership to find a beginning point.  We suggested that we should talk to some students directly, in order to establish their feelings, needs and hear their suggestions.

We had the opportunity to meet with ten students. They had several specific suggestions.  These included the idea of featuring the school’s logo, which had been designed by a previous student.  They were very proud of the logo and felt it should be a focus point somewhere.  Their interest also pointed to creating a place that they could relax and not feel the day to day pressures or where, when things got difficult, they could legitimately hang out.  Comfortable and flexible furnishings were a must.

A second major request was that color should be introduced into the space.  The remainder of the building is nicely maintained and fresh but was monotone in character.  The primary space to be converted into a student friendly atmosphere was being currently used as a multi-purpose space and some of those functions still needed to be accommodated.

The Administration was supportive of the student requests and added that the space should include a large screen TV/monitor, and should have some type of planter to introduce some softening of the space with something alive.  That suggested the need for some daylighting, though it was an interior space. Solatube skylights were suggested as a way to accomplish a growable space.  The wall where the planters and TV/monitor would be located might also be a place for display of student work, a place were other potted plants could be included or hold other significant display items.  This wall becomes a feature in the space.

The last item to be addressed was to create color into the space with the ability to change the color for a specific event or special quality.  The design creates a luminous ceiling with LED lights that can have the color changed to meet the situation.  It can be a rainbow of colors, white light for meetings or a specific color for an occasion.  The light would be filtered by a series of vertical fiberglass panels cut in wave patterns.

The result is designed to be a fun or focused space.

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