On the surface, the Lakota East facility looks like any other well-designed, modern school. But when one looks deeper, it becomes clear that this is truly an exceptional facility, made so thanks to the more than 500 people who had a hand in designing it. In November 1993, the board of Lakota Local School District agreed that, in essence, they wanted their customers to direct the design. This is a significant detail in the story, says Gerry Hammond, president of Steed Hammond Paul. On the contrary, it will create ill-will any time customers are asked for input and then ignored.
Customers know what they want.
The first step in creating Lakota East High School was identifying the community s values related to school design. For instance, one such value in this case was that parents feel welcome and comfortable when visiting the school. Next, the values were refined and prioritized via telephone and mail surveys with nearly 300 other customers in the district. For instance, one of the most important values in the Lakota district was that the classrooms be adaptable to different teaching and learning styles. Not only was this value deemed important, but the community felt that the current schools were not performing as well as they could on that point.