ERIC LLOYD WRIGHT
Eric Lloyd Wright has worked as an architect with both his grandfather, Frank Lloyd Wright, and his father, Lloyd Wright. The Studio of Eric Wright is design consultant for the Runyon Canyon visitors center, now in the planning phase.
Our proposed school, Sunset Community High School, is conceived to provide a broad education founded in the arts, humanities and sciences. The curriculum includes high-tech arts, fine arts and performing arts, as well as languages, literature, sciences, social studies and philosophy. The curriculum is based on the concept that each individual should be heard and nurtured to develop his or her full creative talents. This creativity is rooted in nature and helps develop a democratic, freethinking individual.
This educational strategy provides access to the school throughout the day, evening and weekend, so the arts and extracurricular activities can be represented along with academics. Facilities are open to the public after regular school hours for evening classes and collaborative works. The school acts as a community center where students come early and stay late. The library and learning-resource center are filled with a broad variety of resources.
The high school will employ as many of its students as possible. Student jobs include grounds, administration, food service and teacher and library assistants. The day-care facility for student and faculty parents integrates parental training, education and health services. To connect students with communities around the world, the media center includes international teleconference facilities. The school has integrated community vegetable and flower gardens, where students work and learn about horticulture. Combining these features helps the school become a vital community asset rather than a cage for storing children.
The school is designed to reflect an educational process that is nonlinear and encourages personal expression. In this design we have retained as much of the existing landscaping as possible, including the many mature trees. We located the main entry and classrooms off Fountain Avenue, furthest away from the busy intersection at Sunset, to the north, and the freeway, to the northeast. Fountain Avenue is widened to a four-lane boulevard divided with a planting strip. The building eases into its residential context by stepping down toward the south and being surrounded by community gardens and planted terraces.
The school uses natural light and ventilation. It is designed to bring the outside in and extend the inside out. The design includes grid-integrated photovoltaic roofing and water catchment for gardens and ornamental landscaping. Parking is hidden under the athletic fields. The collection of buildings resembles a small village, with connected centers of activity to foster a sense of community for students, faculty and the neighborhood. *
Design team: Eric Lloyd Wright, Hannah Wear, John J. Ulloth, Kevin Parkhurst.
