The U-M team's design would provide three distinct units, each for approximately 300 students, within the larger structure. Shared facilities would include a gym, playground, library and multipurpose room. Rather than segregating access by means of features like special ramps for the physically challenged, our single-story structure offers nonsegregated access. Ground Design Studio has been developing the design since last September. Circulation and assembly spaces, which surround pavilions, are heated with passive solar energy and cooled by natural ventilation.
Every classroom has direct access to an enclosed courtyard.
We worked with a landscape consultant to select distinctive palettes of plant species that will provide shade in the summer and a seasonal variety of textures and smells. All design submissions must provide evidence that they will meet the CPS' budget for the project. To meet the last requirement, the team members twice visited the site of the future school in Roseland and gathered feedback at community forums. They studied the area's history and found it had been a major destination for the Underground Railroad. We don't want to just plop in a foreign object.