SAUD News Release

June 5, 2006
Contact: Cindy Muckey, School of Architecure and Urban Design, (785) 864-3709.

Studio Creates a Gathering Place for Junior High Students

George Manis, (4th- year B.Arch) sets rebar in concrete for the trellis at West Junior High School

Nineteen students in Professor Nils Gore’s design studio spent the Spring Semester of 2005 renovating the exterior north courtyard commons at Lawrence’s West Junior High School.

The existing school courtyard had deteriorating sidewalk areas, overgrown and diseased pear trees, bland landscaping, problems with standing water following rains and inadequate seating for students who wanted to gather after lunch.

The junior high school and the Lawrence School District contacted Gore after seeing the quality of work his class, Studio 401, had produced two years earlier in a lighting project completed for Hillcrest Elementary School.

Gore’s studio interviewed students and teachers at West Junior High and designed a solution that incorporated weather-resistant multi-level decking/seating areas, landscaping features that alternated paving and planting areas, and wider sidewalks to accommodate more pedestrian traffic. Two groups of stepped benches were created to provide more inviting outdoor activity and assembly areas. A pair of uncoated, steel rebar trellis structures planted with ivy in front of the school’s brick walls added vertical landscaping elements.

View of the multi-level deck constructed by Professor Nils Gore's students

The original project design was enhanced when Venteak, a Miami, Florida, exotic hardwood flooring and decking supplier, donated enough ipe, or Brazilian walnut, to construct the students’ courtyard design. The original project budget of $10,000 was based on equal funding contributions from the West Junior High School student council and the Lawrence School District. Without the donation from Venteak, the upgraded materials would have boosted the cost of the project to almost $20,000. Costs were also kept low with building and landscaping materials from Diamond Everly Roofing, Home Depot, and Sunrise Garden Center, all in Lawrence.

Students who participated in the project included Brian Arnold, Elizabeth Barreto, Daniel Bedard, Jennifer Borton, Eric Closson, Jessica Deem, Kevin Gates, Jason Hartman, Allison Johnson, George Manis, Diann Mroszczak, Mai Nguyen, Amanda Noelke, Tyson Pyle, Emily Reece, Samuel Shepherd, Katrina Vandeputte, Matthew Wild, and Kyle Wilson.

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