Landscape Architect Articles

Mesa Verde High School06-01-03 | News

Mesa Verde High School

They Called It "The Prison"

By Gary Orr
Design Principal, ORR Design Office

Contemporary American culture has reshaped society, and its expectations from the public school environment. Increasingly, the physical setting and design of schools has suffered from attention to more pressing issues. Yet, the appearance of a school campus creates the fundamental and lasting impression of how important the school is as compared to other places in the community.

The physical image and atmosphere of a school is an integral part of the educational experience for all who come to learn and grow there. Young boys and girls come to a high school at the most impressionable period in their lives, and lost is the most important of opportunities for intellectual inspiration if they do not find themselves in an environment of inspired surroundings.

New paint, trees, walkways and lighting have all contributed to the re-imaging of Mesa Verde High School, transforming the campus from the look of a prison into an ideal educational facility. PHOTO & Drawings COURTESY OF Gary Orr

The image of the physical environment and its corresponding relationship to sensory perception and the resulting judgments can shape human behavior profoundly.

Consider only the physiological impact of the physical environment. The scenic view of a forest lake or oceanside beach can without doubt melt stress away. Bright lights and engaging colors of a carnival and the location of food and game tents is the foundation for contemporary shopping mall design-a place that makes spending money fun. Workers in a dark warehouse on a forgotten street and workers in a modern day lighted office located in a "park like" campus without doubt have different attitudes and expectations about work, personal safety and job enjoyment.

The final design (see renderings) achieved all re-imaging goals with concepts that included demolition of parking lots, walkways and curbs, colored and standard concrete flatwork, concrete bench walls, waiting shelters, a new bicycle parking enclosure area, logo and graphics signage elements and a mural art wall. This is a far cry from the original campus (below) that had raw concrete walls, few or no windows of black glass, a scattering of decorative embossed porcelain metal wall panels and warehouse-like flat roofs, and a spare landscape of dying trees.

Imagine a suburban high school in a friendly neighborhood of modest homes. Now imagine that everyone who saw the school came to the same conclusion about the school simply by its appearance. Imagine that the parents, students, teachers, and even the community at large called your school "The Prison." Would you want to send your children to a place with such a nickname? Mesa Verde High School Principal, Dr. Dennis Doris and his staff have established several programs that demonstrate vigorous academic achievement but he concluded; "perception is the problem-parents judge the school by its outward presentation to the community and unfairly or not conclude that the school is substandard in comparison to newer and more attractive schools in adjacent communities."

Nearly 26 years old, Mesa Verde High School is the "newest" high school in northern California's San Juan Unified School District. Designed and constructed in the early 1970s, the school and campus was the product of architecture's romance with sterile Modernism and advanced learning concepts by education specialists of the day. The campus was never completed in its original plan due to budget constraints and other program revisions near the end of its original construction development.

Mesa Verde High School Exterior Paint Design Concept – Building B

Weak efforts were made in the following decades to finalize undeveloped aspects of the original plans while unplanned additions altered the fundamental character and layout of the campus. Raw concrete walls, few or no windows of black glass, a scattering of decorative embossed porcelain metal wall panels and warehouse-like flat roofs, a spare landscape of dying trees and no defined campus entry-all conspired to suggest a place of foreboding ambivalence. The interface between the exterior building walls and the surrounding site was equally barren and anonymous, a campus without a soul.

Utilitarian and no-frills site development was the standard menu of poor planning and neglect: expansive parking lots, abused trees and plantings, limited lighting, no signage, no campus center or entry, no seating, no rain or sun sheltered areas near drop-off or pick-up zones, no clear definition of parking and roadway or pedestrian circulation as well as a confusing arrival experience for the first time visitor.

Our role as designers was to educate the educators about design. Historically, educational directors and managers have only considered the physical environment of schools in most practical of standards. Preoccupied with wiring a classroom for computers, paving a running track or installing fencing for security, school managers have not emphasized the cohesive integration of such improvements within a school environment's design theme, character or appearance. No wonder voters ask where their modernization tax dollars go.

Mesa Verde High School constructed in the early 1970s, was never completed as originally planned due to budget constraints. As a result of this, and the sterile architecture popular at the time, the campus took on a cold, institutional feel that made for a depressing educational environment. Despite being located in a friendly neighborhood with modest homes, the school was given the unkind nickname "The Prison."

They drive by and make disappointing judgments of a school by its exterior image even if it has a new roof, high-tech wiring and security cameras. Treeless parking lots, brown playing fields, unattractive signage, buildings without cohesive attention to common style or site planning principals, security and fencing that divide important outdoor "rooms" like the Berlin Wall. In the real world people do judge a book by its cover.

We suggested to District leaders-given the choice between identical books, the one with the most engaging cover design will be chosen, most likely taken better care of and will amplify the impact and meaning of the words within. Our goal as architects was to illuminate the critical importance of the interconnection of site and building, demonstrate a sensitive understanding of the community and the educational process, secure economic confidence with creative budget options and expand the traditional role of architect and school designer.

The "new" Mesa Verde High School campus is much more inviting and more conducive to learning. The aqua-colored paint on the campus buildings and colored concrete covering walkways are a polar opposite of the former institutional grey and concrete slabs of the "old" high school. PHOTO & Drawings COURTESY OF Gary Orr

We offered a fresh spirit that could see the image of the school with a broader perspective. As project designers, we established a design framework under the title "campus re-imaging." We expanded our traditional role as technical experts and assumed a broader role as re-imaging designers. District leaders had worked with several large architectural firms in the past but never truly achieved a cohesive interconnection between site and building. Our firm was approached as an alternative.

The district's funds were limited and options to revise the school's appearance would be limited to minor replacements of plantings and possibly the basic cost of paint on the building walls. District leaders thought very basic improvements could transform the functional deficiencies of the school and its upgrade it's image from "The Prison."

We illuminated the deeper Mesa Verde: (continued from page 62) problems established by the original design of the school and how historical efforts to "spruce up" the campus would not be transformational. A truly successful transformation would require measurable changes in attendance, higher scores, reduced vandalism and enhanced student/parent/teacher spirit. Could a re-imaging project achieve such lofty results?

PHOTO & Drawings COURTESY OF Gary Orr

The final concept utilized a combination of elements: graphics, site-planning techniques, building painting, art elements, and architectural enhancements such as sheltered waiting areas and other defining techniques. The construction budget for "everything" was around $700,000. Key re-imaging goals included: A strong arrival sequence starting from the distant street access and termination at the drop-off plaza, clear definition of pedestrian and automotive circulation, distribution of "outdoor rooms" for gathering and social interaction, transformation of building mass from oppressive to engaging and friendly, creation of an identifiable center, improve wayfinding with signage/graphics and a new logo with a supporting typographical identity.

The final design achieved all re-imaging goals with concepts that included demolition of parking lots, walkways and curbs, new and relocated drainage, lighting and irrigation, building painting and graphics, colored and standard concrete flatwork, concrete bench walls, soil import and lawn areas, new plantings, waiting shelters, security gates, trash enclosures, new bicycle parking enclosure area, logo and graphics signage elements and a mural art wall.

The new landscaping and design of the campus buildings have instilled a sense of pride among students, faculty and the community. The Mesa High School Mavericks now have one of the nicer campuses in the school district...a far cry from the old days of "The Prison."

By defining the qualities that are most critical to the campus' physical identity and it's strength as an academic setting, and by suggesting ways in which they can be preserved and enhanced, this project provided a new opportunity for community support and rejuvenated stewardship.

School officials report dramatic improvements in student, staff and community spirit, a turn-around in out-of-catchment-area student transfers, heightened interest in the school by the community, substantial drop in site vandalism, improved security, comfortable waiting areas at the drop-off/pick-up zone and over all increased test scores resulting from the cumulative changes in the environment.

Teachers and the Principal report constant positive comments from the community about the "new" school's image while District leadership has gained new insights from this project. Fundamentally, District leadership can now demonstrate by example from this project by showing their respect for the total campus environment. The students and community will feel that respect and act accordingly. Over $170 million in school repair bond expenses have been spent or allocated in the District and yet this small project has had the highest visible impact above all others in the District.