Kim
Coleman
Associate Professor, University of Southern California School of Architecture
Associate Professor, University of Southern California School of Architecture
Project Intent Travis Tarr
The LAUSD claims a lofty goal for their planning and eventual construction of new schools in Los Angeles. This goal is to create “neighborhood” schools. The current site of the future Belmont Elementary #6 (where LAUSD razed 100 low income housing units and a historically significant 1930s radio station), this project aims to create a neighborhood school as a center for the local community, and make each division of the school itself a neighborhood. The site, located on the busy street of Vermont, is hardly the ideal location for a new school: its 1.5 acres is far less than the 5 acre plus lots often found in less dense school sites. The project capitalizes on the small sloping lot, creating a dense layered building in which students inhabit the rooftops and courtyards and garden spaces scattered throughout the plan. Located at a point of transition from the old downtown to the new city that stretches to the ocean, surrounded by distinct neighborhoods such as Korea Town, Macarthur Park, and Silverlake, and split by council, planning, and redevelopment districts, the community lacks a center. The complex, re-named the Vermont 101 Education Center, would be an important step toward creating a center along Vermont, a vital and energetic street.
Co-Use Program
As a hybrid, the complex splits the original 1000 student elementary school into three parts: Two primary schools for grades K thru 2nd and one elementary school grades 3 and 4. Added to the mixture is a pre-school at the corner of New Hampshire and First and a community advocacy and activity center off of Vermont. These 5 programs are arranged in a gradient from the lowest site elevation to the highest with overlapping functions and circulation paths. The classrooms themselves all exit into an exterior space, shared among the primary schools and private to the elementary. With the addition of sliding doors and bi-fold garage doors there is a wide range of variation possible for each classroom, both for the interior climate and the actual learning environment. This type of school allows for constant exploration by the student, and as they grow older and learn more, the building grows with them (the insular courts of the primary school give way to the individual classrooms with views of the city).
As a hybrid, the complex splits the original 1000 student elementary school into three parts: Two primary schools for grades K thru 2nd and one elementary school grades 3 and 4. Added to the mixture is a pre-school at the corner of New Hampshire and First and a community advocacy and activity center off of Vermont. These 5 programs are arranged in a gradient from the lowest site elevation to the highest with overlapping functions and circulation paths. The classrooms themselves all exit into an exterior space, shared among the primary schools and private to the elementary. With the addition of sliding doors and bi-fold garage doors there is a wide range of variation possible for each classroom, both for the interior climate and the actual learning environment. This type of school allows for constant exploration by the student, and as they grow older and learn more, the building grows with them (the insular courts of the primary school give way to the individual classrooms with views of the city).
LAUSD - SITE F2
Vermont & 1st
