The Oaks School is an independent, K-6 school located in the heart of Hollywood. Since its creation nearly 40 years ago, the school's curriculum has successfully fostered the belief that the joy of childhood and learning can go hand in hand, supported by inquiry, creativity, and wonder in the classroom. However, the school campus had little outdoor green space to support physical activities or an outdoor learning environment. Additionally, the Oaks had poor site accessibility and struggled to distinguish itself from its unaffiliated immediate neighbor, the historic Hollywood United Methodist Church.

Tasked with leading the improvement project, landscape architecture firm Studio One Eleven embraced the challenging site conditions, provided a strong, visual identity for the school's campus, and capitalized on underutilized assets to create much-needed open space. Studies support the theory that children benefit from frequent exposure to nature and that it improves emotional well-being, cognitive performance in academic learning, personal development, creativity, and environmental stewardship. With that in mind, the goal of the school's new greenspace was to simply provide a comfortable, naturalistic environment for children to spend time outdoors playing, socializing, learning, and growing.

Site Constraints and Opportunities
The former main entry to the school once doubled as a trash area and raised loading dock. A very steep ramp rose to the dock platform three feet above the parking lot and continued sloping upward to the school gates. It offered no sense of arrival or welcome to the campus, did not conform to current accessibility standards, and lacked any shade elements or greenery. However, the design of the entry garden posed an additional challenge, as the project required there be no loss of existing parking stalls resulting from the development.

The school suffered from a lack of open space, so the project team explored many options to create new, usable green zones and outdoor classroom areas. The team decided on an approach that would involve carefully planned interventions. Part of the solution was to remove two non-historic, 1920s-era buildings to make room for a play field and jogging track. Another change included demolishing an old playground built into the hillside that was surrounded by a series of wooden decks. The buildings and playground were separated by numerous retaining walls and steps with no connection to each other. The largest of the buildings sat eight feet above the parking area entry atop a terrace held back by a tall retaining wall. The new design kept this wall to hold back the steepest grades while several smaller retaining walls, identified as barriers, were removed to create contiguous open spaces. All existing, mature native oaks and specimen palms were preserved and integrated into the plan.

Main Entry

 
The main entry underwent a dramatic transformation into a sequence of verdant, welcoming spaces. Studio One Eleven redesigned the entire area to feature a new vine-covered timber trellis, stairs and accessible ramp, drought tolerant plantings, and sign graphics. The result invites students, teachers, and visitors to enter the school through a stretch of oak trees and terraced gardens flourishing with native plants. Shared stair and ramp landings meet beneath the flowering vines of the trellis to allow for moments of engagement with nature before stepping into the classroom. Light fixtures were strategically and subtly incorporated into the overall design to create the illumination required for nighttime use and safety while not drawing attention to themselves. New, pin-mounted identity signage are anchored into the board-formed concrete garden terrace walls and announce this engaging space as the new gateway into a unique and comprehensive learning environment.

Play Field
The decision to remove existing buildings facilitated the creation of a central play field surrounded by a decomposed granite jogging path. The school utilizes this new area for physical activities, class gatherings, and graduation events that were not possible before. New amphitheater seating integrated into the hillside functions as an additional place for outdoor classroom gatherings. An existing, tall retaining wall at the rear of the central green became a canvas for public art and was equipped for use as a climbing wall for physical activity with a variety of fun, colorful hand holds.

Flexible Open Space
The Landscape Architects took advantage of the site topography and, through careful grading and intentional transitions, created a series of interconnected terraced gardens. Decomposed granite walks and lush plantings visually link the campus together. Thoughtfully designed garden rooms provide flexible places for individuals or small groups to learn, discover, and play together in a natural setting. During their time outdoors, children can talk with friends in a shaded picnic area, play on the climbing wall, run a lap, kick a ball, explore the gardens, or spend a quiet moment under a pergola detailed to make it appear as if it had been built along with the school building and the historic church. The entire campus features beautiful drought-tolerant plants that celebrate the Southern California climate. Overall, the greenspace is a tactile, naturalistic environment designed for kids to accomodate endless opportunities for education, active play, or peaceful relaxation.

Sustainability
The project site was once 85 percent impervious with only small pockets of landscaping. Studio One Eleven focused on increasing surface permeability, reducing the urban heat island effect, and supporting biodiversity. As an outdoor educational environment, the campus demonstrates the benefits of a 500 percent increase in permeability, allowing rainwater to infiltrate into the ground to support abundant plant life, reducing stormwater runoff, and improving air quality. The added greenery, increased soil percolation, and passive shade elements help mitigate the heat island effect caused by the solar absorption and retention of nearby building roofs and paving surfaces. By creating more opportunities for vegetation, the landscape supports a diverse range of plant species that provide important habitats for pollinators, birds, and other animals native to the area. This not only benefits the local ecosystem but also contributes to a higher quality of life for the students and teachers who are now able to experience a greater connection to natural systems on this urban campus.

Conclusion
The Greenspace project was developed in close collaboration with the school's leadership, a community of supportive stakeholders, and a local garden designer who helped create the native plant communities that make this a wonderful and unique place. The Landscape Architects and their team of collaborators re-envisioned almost every inch of the rear yard space into an outdoor oasis for exploring nature and creative learning.

Studio One Eleven is a Southern California-based interdisciplinary design firm dedicated to enhancing city life by creating more livable, sustainable, and engaging urban spaces.

TEAM LIST:
Client: The Oaks School
Landscape Architect: Studio One Eleven - Long Beach, CA (Team: Michael Bohn, AIA; Kirk Keller, ASLA; Moiri Fleming ASLA; David Sabunas AIA, ASLA)
Plant Selection:
Matthew Brown Landscape Design - Los Angeles, CA
Civil Engineer: KPFF - Los Angeles, CA
Contractor: Howard CDM - Bellflower, CA