Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus – Preliminary Design UnveiledOn Thursday January 13th, the community, school district and professionals from ThenDesign Architecture and Hammond Construction met to deliver an update on designs for the new 6-12 Campus.
On Thursday, January 13th, the community, school district and professionals from ThenDesign Architecture and Hammond Construction met to deliver an update on designs for the new 6-12 Campus. This presentation gave an overview of the schedule and provided a glimpse into key spaces for the new building. Inside the Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, over 200 community members attended either in-person or online to hear the update and ask questions about the project.
The new $113 million, 365,000 square foot facility will serve grades 6-12 and was funded by a voter approved Bond-issue in 2019 along with funding from the state of Ohio, through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The goal of the project is to create a facility that provides strong, innovative programs for students, a safe and secure learning environment, and work as a gathering place for the Cuyahoga Falls community.
At this event, conceptual renderings and a site plan were shown and discussed with the community.
Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus Preliminary Site Plan
“This design puts academics first, and that’s the most important part of the project. We are building new facilities because we believe they will help us provide better education to our students.”
Anthony Gomez
Board of Education President
Project Timeline
In 2015, the Cuyahoga Falls City School District laid the foundation for future buildings by assembling a master plan. Planners examined the existing conditions of school buildings, student enrollment projections, and the needed square footage to serve future populations. This was then submitted to the OFCC in a report that is used to assess funding options for the District.
Then, in fall of 2019, community members approved a Bond issue that would provide $80.6 million for the project and the state would commit $33.6 million. As the Covid-19 pandemic swept the country in early 2020, the state froze funding for new projects and the team was forced to delay until early 2021.
This is when design officially started with Educational Visioning happening in April.
Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus Project Timeline
“This project will mean the world for Cuyahoga Falls. This current building has been here a long time, and has its challenges. Having a new facility will be a huge shot in the arm for this community.”
Russell Chaboudy
Interim Superintendent of Cuyahoga Falls City School District
A Challenging Construction Environment
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, construction material prices are inflated across the country. It is not unique to Cuyahoga Falls, or the state of Ohio. All school districts currently involved in a building improvement program have been affected. Supply chain shortages, labor scarcity and market conditions haven’t existed like this in recent history and challenge school construction projects everywhere.
In August of 2021, as schematic design was completed, TDA acquired two cost estimates for the project. One was from Hammond Construction, the Construction Manager at Risk and another from an independent provider. While both estimators agreed on costs, due to market conditions, initial designs were 20-25% over budget.
The team spent the next several months refining designs and making the building more efficient. A variety of design strategies were used to alleviate costs. A few examples of cost cutting measures included minimizing site work by incorporating the natural slope of the land in the stadium, reducing the building footprint by grouping some academic spaces into a 3-story structure rather than a 2-story structure and developing a more efficient building exterior. These modifications have lowered costs significantly from the initial estimate.
Board of Education President Anthony Gomez commented: “I think the community is concerned about the cost overages but recognizes the reality of the economic situation we’re in due to Covid-19.” He continues, “They feel that when you say something, you do something about it. We have to continue to look at our options that will make a difference in this project.”
While significant progress has been made on initial designs, the current 10% overage resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic is still being addressed.
“In Cuyahoga Falls we have always faced challenges; our current buildings present some of those. This building project is a big deal for us and we will do it right. And we have to make the public understand that we’re doing it for the benefit of future students.”
Cuyahoga Falls Resident
Moving Through Design Development
Over the last several months, the District and design team have been outlining three pathways to solve the budgetary challenge. All three elements will be pursued simultaneously and evaluated through the next two phases of design.
Examine alternate phasing and bid strategies for the locally funded initiatives (LFI’s). This means, bidding out locally funded initiatives separately, possibly at different times, to capitalize on construction efficiencies and capture potentially lower material prices when construction begins.
Identify additional funding options that may be available to the District to help with overages. This could include grants, additional funding by the state or creative methods of leasing equipment and other items during the construction process.
Continue to refine the current scheme in terms of design and construction methods to implement value engineering, making the school design as efficient as possible.
At this time, the building is being designed to its full scope, with all the academic elements of the building, along with the auditorium and stadium. By focusing on these 3 simultaneous pathways the District is hopeful to provide a path forward, solving the uniquely challenging budget conditions.
“I’m a Cuyahoga Falls graduate and now a freshman at Akron University and I think this is a really cool opportunity which is long overdue. I love the Falls, but I would love to see this plan built. It makes me want to go back to high school!”
Cuyahoga Falls Graduate
A Glimpse of Key Spaces in the Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus
To better understand the site and design, the team developed a scaled model to display the current building scheme. This rough model has been a valuable tool to quickly assess site conditions, building massing, spatial relationships, and site visibility.
Interim Superintendent of Cuyahoga Falls City School District, Russell Chaboudy commented, “From my experience, a new building will bring people back to our schools and it creates new excitement for the teaching staff and students. I think it will benefit the student’s education and will mean so much to the kids in the community. You will see good things happening as a result.”
By working quickly between a massing model and conceptual renderings of the building, we can begin to imagine what the final building will look like. While imagery is still conceptual and being refined, the following perspectives provide a glimpse into the final design.
“It is exciting to see the ideas of having outside areas and courtyards for student dining, learning areas and these beautiful plazas. Isn’t that what we learned with COVID-19? You should be outside as much as possible to benefit your mental health.”
Cuyahoga Falls Parent
Next Steps for the Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus
Over the next several months, the District and architectural team will be meeting with educators to continue developing the interior of building. This will include the layout of academic areas, shared and collaborative spaces along with discussing interior finishes and furniture.
The whole team is committed to developing the best facility to provide greater educational value for Cuyahoga Falls City School Students and meet the needs of the community.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
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Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Ribbon CuttingThe Oberlin City School District celebrated a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for their new Pre-K through fifth grade elementary school. Attended by the community, district officials and other dignitaries, the new elementary school provides a modern, collaborative learning environment and features environmentally friendly features that make it a model for sustainable school design.
Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Ribbon Cutting
The Oberlin City School District, community, dignitaries along with construction and design professionals gathered on September 12th, to celebrate the opening of the new Oberlin elementary school. This 62,000 sf, 21st century learning facility, features collaborative spaces and advanced environmental control systems. Interior spaces can be reconfigured to meet the changing needs of the district and provide educational opportunities for students of all ages.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. David Hall commented, “Oberlin City Schools embarked on a journey almost 10 years ago to redesign our pre-K 12 facilities. This journey was led by instrumental community leaders,” referring to previous superintendent John Schroth and former OCS Board President Barry Richards. “A facilities team was formed consisting of community members, staff, parents and administrators to make that vision a reality. It implements 21st century teaching strategies across a new facility and all of these stages were critical points to move the district forward.”
Dr. Hall thanked the community for their support of the longtime project.
Superintendent of Oberlin City Schools, Dr. David Hall, gave an opening address, along with Oberlin City Schools Board President, Jason Miller and Ohio State Representative Joe Miller and architect, Brad Gellert.
“Oberlin City Schools embarked on a journey almost 10 years ago to redesign our pre-K 12 facilities. This school implements 21st century teaching strategies across the new facility and all of these stages were critical points to move the district forward.”
Dr. David Hall
Superintendent of Oberlin City School District
Project Manager, Brad Gellert commented, “The district and community had a goal in mind of creating a building that met current the needs of Pre-K through 5th grade students and also the future student needs by constructing a building that could be reconfigured due to changing conditions.”
As a result, the building features a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Lab, an extended gymnasium space, open and flexible classroom spaces, advanced environmental controls, and an emotional sensory room.
Dr. Hall spoke about the importance of the building’s environmental impact, “Sustainability is important to the district and our community.” Continuing the theme of a collaborative design project, Dr. Hall recalled, “We created a sustainability committee which provided valuable information on our new Pre-K-5 sustainability initiatives.” These initiatives included, a solar installation that provides 80% of the building’s energy needs, electrical power vehicle charging stations and an environmental dashboard that monitors energy use.
This environmental dashboard, which was partially funded by a grant from Oberlin College Green Edge Fund, can be used by future students to better understand how the building’s energy use affects the environment.
Other low-cost sustainability measures included enhanced insulation in the building’s envelope, orienting the building so its longest side faces north, while also adding larger windows to that façade. This minimizes heat gain and the need for greater cooling.
Attendees included community members, dignitaries, school administration and students.
“This is a prime example of what we can accomplish together, not by working in silos, but working in unison. No one person or institution has the answer, but the unity of the whole is needed for success.”
Jason Miller
Oberlin City Schools Board President
Oberlin’s “All Inclusive” Public Education
The ceremony was also attended by Ohio State Representative, Joe Miller. Miller, who also attended the building’s groundbreaking ceremony commented on the historic importance Oberlin placed on public education, “It didn’t matter whether students were black or white, Christian or Jewish, it just didn’t matter.” Miller continued, “The Oberlin community said, “We will educate all (185 years ago),” this was public education at its best, they pioneered it and that’s something to be proud of.”
Miller, a former high school social studies teacher, is a strong advocate of public education, and felt Oberlin’s example of inclusion and diversity was admirable.
“Together we will provide education for all children, their zip code doesn’t matter, their socioeconomic status doesn’t matter, where they’re from originally doesn’t matter. They all have an equal shot. You have provided a facility to meet everyone’s needs. I’m so proud of you for doing that.”
After the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Dr. Hall who is passionate about educating Oberlin’s students commented, “I’m blessed, this is the job I want to do, and can’t think of anything else I would rather do. The last year has been an obstacle, it’s been challenging, but we are overcoming that and looking forward to the future.”
The New Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Opened for Tours
“These designs are a long-term commitment. It’s not like writing a book report, it’s a 10-year effort. Oberlin stuck with it and when you tour the building, you will see the results.”
Brad Gellert
Architect
Oberlin City Schools conducted a dedication ceremony for the new Oberlin Elementary School on Sept. 12. From left: Ohio State Rep. Joe Miller, Oberlin City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hall, Oberlin City Schools Board President Jason Miller, and board members Farah Emeka, Anne Schaum, and Oberlin City Schools Vice-President Dr. Ken Stanley.
A Successful, “Forward-Thinking” Project
Brad Gellert, the architect on the project commented on why it was successful, “We built it on a very tight budget and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to introduce many new sustainability features like a solar array that powers 80% of the building, the electric vehicle charging stations and the environmental dashboard. These are all very innovative initiatives for a school.”
Sustainability and collaborative learning are the hallmarks of this new educational facility and display how elementary schools can embody these principles.
“To create positive change in the world, you must work collaboratively with others,” said Brad Gellert adding “spending years assisting the district with this project is personal. We are proud to be part of that collaboration, and know you will enjoy the building for many years to come.”
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Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Ribbon CuttingThe Oberlin City School District celebrated a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for their new Pre-K through fifth grade elementary school. Attended by the community, district officials and other dignitaries, the new elementary school provides a modern, collaborative learning environment and features environmentally friendly features that make it a model for sustainable school design.
Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Ribbon Cutting
The Oberlin City School District, community, dignitaries along with construction and design professionals gathered on September 12th, to celebrate the opening of the new Oberlin elementary school. This 62,000 sf, 21st century learning facility, features collaborative spaces and advanced environmental control systems. Interior spaces can be reconfigured to meet the changing needs of the district and provide educational opportunities for students of all ages.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. David Hall commented, “Oberlin City Schools embarked on a journey almost 10 years ago to redesign our pre-K 12 facilities. This journey was led by instrumental community leaders,” referring to previous superintendent John Schroth and former OCS Board President Barry Richards. “A facilities team was formed consisting of community members, staff, parents and administrators to make that vision a reality. It implements 21st century teaching strategies across a new facility and all of these stages were critical points to move the district forward.”
Dr. Hall thanked the community for their support of the longtime project.
Superintendent of Oberlin City Schools, Dr. David Hall, gave an opening address, along with Oberlin City Schools Board President, Jason Miller and Ohio State Representative Joe Miller and architect, Brad Gellert.
“Oberlin City Schools embarked on a journey almost 10 years ago to redesign our pre-K 12 facilities. This school implements 21st century teaching strategies across the new facility and all of these stages were critical points to move the district forward.”
Dr. David Hall
Superintendent of Oberlin City School District
Project Manager, Brad Gellert commented, “The district and community had a goal in mind of creating a building that met current the needs of Pre-K through 5th grade students and also the future student needs by constructing a building that could be reconfigured due to changing conditions.”
As a result, the building features a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Lab, an extended gymnasium space, open and flexible classroom spaces, advanced environmental controls, and an emotional sensory room.
Dr. Hall spoke about the importance of the building’s environmental impact, “Sustainability is important to the district and our community.” Continuing the theme of a collaborative design project, Dr. Hall recalled, “We created a sustainability committee which provided valuable information on our new Pre-K-5 sustainability initiatives.” These initiatives included, a solar installation that provides 80% of the building’s energy needs, electrical power vehicle charging stations and an environmental dashboard that monitors energy use.
This environmental dashboard, which was partially funded by a grant from Oberlin College Green Edge Fund, can be used by future students to better understand how the building’s energy use affects the environment.
Other low-cost sustainability measures included enhanced insulation in the building’s envelope, orienting the building so its longest side faces north, while also adding larger windows to that façade. This minimizes heat gain and the need for greater cooling.
Attendees included community members, dignitaries, school administration and students.
“This is a prime example of what we can accomplish together, not by working in silos, but working in unison. No one person or institution has the answer, but the unity of the whole is needed for success.”
Jason Miller
Oberlin City Schools Board President
Oberlin’s “All Inclusive” Public Education
The ceremony was also attended by Ohio State Representative, Joe Miller. Miller, who also attended the building’s groundbreaking ceremony commented on the historic importance Oberlin placed on public education, “It didn’t matter whether students were black or white, Christian or Jewish, it just didn’t matter.” Miller continued, “The Oberlin community said, “We will educate all (185 years ago),” this was public education at its best, they pioneered it and that’s something to be proud of.”
Miller, a former high school social studies teacher, is a strong advocate of public education, and felt Oberlin’s example of inclusion and diversity was admirable.
“Together we will provide education for all children, their zip code doesn’t matter, their socioeconomic status doesn’t matter, where they’re from originally doesn’t matter. They all have an equal shot. You have provided a facility to meet everyone’s needs. I’m so proud of you for doing that.”
After the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Dr. Hall who is passionate about educating Oberlin’s students commented, “I’m blessed, this is the job I want to do, and can’t think of anything else I would rather do. The last year has been an obstacle, it’s been challenging, but we are overcoming that and looking forward to the future.”
The New Oberlin City Schools Elementary School Opened for Tours
“These designs are a long-term commitment. It’s not like writing a book report, it’s a 10-year effort. Oberlin stuck with it and when you tour the building, you will see the results.”
Brad Gellert
Architect
Oberlin City Schools conducted a dedication ceremony for the new Oberlin Elementary School on Sept. 12. From left: Ohio State Rep. Joe Miller, Oberlin City Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hall, Oberlin City Schools Board President Jason Miller, and board members Farah Emeka, Anne Schaum, and Oberlin City Schools Vice-President Dr. Ken Stanley.
A Successful, “Forward-Thinking” Project
Brad Gellert, the architect on the project commented on why it was successful, “We built it on a very tight budget and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to introduce many new sustainability features like a solar array that powers 80% of the building, the electric vehicle charging stations and the environmental dashboard. These are all very innovative initiatives for a school.”
Sustainability and collaborative learning are the hallmarks of this new educational facility and display how elementary schools can embody these principles.
“To create positive change in the world, you must work collaboratively with others,” said Brad Gellert adding “spending years assisting the district with this project is personal. We are proud to be part of that collaboration, and know you will enjoy the building for many years to come.”
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Silver Lake Elementary Playground EngagementIn early May, students at the Silver Lake Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio gathered with architects, teachers, and district administrators to design a new playground for their school. While it may be easy to overlook such a small project, seeing a playground through a student’s eyes helps designers deliver a project that fits the needs of the district and students.
Silver Lake Elementary Playground Engagement, Cuyahoga Falls
In early May, students at the Silver Lake Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio gathered with architects, teachers, and district administrators to design a new playground for their school. This new playground, which is a part of the capital improvement program in Cuyahoga Falls, adds updated equipment for the young students at this longstanding neighborhood school.
Since collaboration is a foundational principle of TDA’s architectural design process, including the stakeholders who use it most—in this case, elementary school students—is important. This collaboration allows them to enjoy their new playground and take pride in having a hand in its design.
See the students “in action” during the playground engagement:
“I love being able to work on the playground with my friends. I know we won’t get all of this [equipment], but it’s so cool to be involved in this project!”
Silver Lake Elementary School Student
Fourth Grade Student
Interactive Design Activities
To get feedback from students, architects held a design “charrette” to gather information and jointly develop a site layout with students for this project.
A design “charrette” is a collaborative activity, where stakeholders gather to map solutions on a challenge they face. In this project, the stakeholders were the elementary students and educators, and the challenge was deciding on playground equipment and how it would lay out on their site.
Silver Lake Elementary Playground Engagement
Designers created three primary activities to work out solutions with the group.
The first activity focused on surveying students on their favorite games at recess. These conversations provided valuable insight into what types of activities the students liked doing on their playground. Questions like, “Do students use equipment like swings and climbing walls the most or do they prefer open space for games of tag and other outdoor activities?” guide overall layouts.
The second activity was designed to gather information about students’ favorite equipment and how these would be used alongside their favorite outside games. Using sticky dots, students identified what equipment they preferred and whether it promoted climbing, swinging, jumping, or running. This allows designers to select equipment that will be used most.
Finally, the third activity challenged students to think like designers and develop their own playgrounds. Then, they would present their solutions to their peers. Using simple materials in small groups, they built a version of their playground on their site. This gave them the chance to think “outside the box” with equipment types, color, texture, and ground materials. With this information, architects could more easily understand spatial relationships between pieces and what types of materials students preferred.
These three activities provided valuable feedback to guide the overall design of the playground. It gives these young “stakeholders” a chance to take responsibility for their environment and how they could best use the space on their site.
While students may not get all the equipment they planned for, such as swimming pools, pirate ships or rocket blasters, they can think creatively about space and how they would use it for themselves.
Silver Lake Elementary School students designed their own playgrounds and presented to their peers.
“I’m looking for climbing things, stuff you can flip on, and hanging equipment too!”
Silver Lake Elementary School Student
Second Grade Student
Value of Collaboration
Gathering input from a variety of perspectives and ages better informs the layout of architecture, site plans, educational design and even playgrounds. Like Educational Visioning, where community members provide feedback on their priorities for a new or renovated school, this idea also applies on a small scale, as with playgrounds or sports fields.
While it may be easy to overlook stakeholder engagement in such a simple design, seeing a playground through a student’s perspective helps designers more effectively plan the space, and address both budget and time constraints.
This helps architects deliver a playground that fits the needs of the district, the surrounding community and the kids who will be using it the most.
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Silver Lake Elementary Playground EngagementIn early May, students at the Silver Lake Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio gathered with architects, teachers, and district administrators to design a new playground for their school. While it may be easy to overlook such a small project, seeing a playground through a student’s eyes helps designers deliver a project that fits the needs of the district and students.
Silver Lake Elementary Playground Engagement, Cuyahoga Falls
In early May, students at the Silver Lake Elementary School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio gathered with architects, teachers, and district administrators to design a new playground for their school. This new playground, which is a part of the capital improvement program in Cuyahoga Falls, adds updated equipment for the young students at this longstanding neighborhood school.
Since collaboration is a foundational principle of TDA’s architectural design process, including the stakeholders who use it most—in this case, elementary school students—is important. This collaboration allows them to enjoy their new playground and take pride in having a hand in its design.
See the students “in action” during the playground engagement:
“I love being able to work on the playground with my friends. I know we won’t get all of this [equipment], but it’s so cool to be involved in this project!”
Silver Lake Elementary School Student
Fourth Grade Student
Interactive Design Activities
To get feedback from students, architects held a design “charrette” to gather information and jointly develop a site layout with students for this project.
A design “charrette” is a collaborative activity, where stakeholders gather to map solutions on a challenge they face. In this project, the stakeholders were the elementary students and educators, and the challenge was deciding on playground equipment and how it would lay out on their site.
Silver Lake Elementary Playground Engagement
Designers created three primary activities to work out solutions with the group.
The first activity focused on surveying students on their favorite games at recess. These conversations provided valuable insight into what types of activities the students liked doing on their playground. Questions like, “Do students use equipment like swings and climbing walls the most or do they prefer open space for games of tag and other outdoor activities?” guide overall layouts.
The second activity was designed to gather information about students’ favorite equipment and how these would be used alongside their favorite outside games. Using sticky dots, students identified what equipment they preferred and whether it promoted climbing, swinging, jumping, or running. This allows designers to select equipment that will be used most.
Finally, the third activity challenged students to think like designers and develop their own playgrounds. Then, they would present their solutions to their peers. Using simple materials in small groups, they built a version of their playground on their site. This gave them the chance to think “outside the box” with equipment types, color, texture, and ground materials. With this information, architects could more easily understand spatial relationships between pieces and what types of materials students preferred.
These three activities provided valuable feedback to guide the overall design of the playground. It gives these young “stakeholders” a chance to take responsibility for their environment and how they could best use the space on their site.
While students may not get all the equipment they planned for, such as swimming pools, pirate ships or rocket blasters, they can think creatively about space and how they would use it for themselves.
Silver Lake Elementary School students designed their own playgrounds and presented to their peers.
“I’m looking for climbing things, stuff you can flip on, and hanging equipment too!”
Silver Lake Elementary School Student
Second Grade Student
Value of Collaboration
Gathering input from a variety of perspectives and ages better informs the layout of architecture, site plans, educational design and even playgrounds. Like Educational Visioning, where community members provide feedback on their priorities for a new or renovated school, this idea also applies on a small scale, as with playgrounds or sports fields.
While it may be easy to overlook stakeholder engagement in such a simple design, seeing a playground through a student’s perspective helps designers more effectively plan the space, and address both budget and time constraints.
This helps architects deliver a playground that fits the needs of the district, the surrounding community and the kids who will be using it the most.
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial Junior High for New Offices in WilloughbyWith the completion of the renovation project, ThenDesign Architecture moves to their new home in Downtown Willoughby.
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial Junior High in Willoughby
In 2017, ThenDesign Architecture undertook the challenging task of breathing new life into the historic Memorial Junior High in downtown Willoughby. Committed to the economic development of the Willoughby community, Bob Fiala, the founding partner of TDA and Executive Chairman and Chris Smith, the President and CEO, decided to reimagine the former school and develop it to become the new headquarters for an “education focused,” architectural firm. In early 2021, ThenDesign Architecture relocates to Memorial Junior High in Willoughby Ohio for their new offices.
Interior Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
“There is nothing more valuable than seeing everybody together in the same building at the same time. This is where true collaboration begins, and where it exists.”
Robert Fiala
Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of ThenDesign Architecture
Economic Development in Willoughby
“This is a story about economic development.” said Bob Fiala, of TDA. While Bob is not involved in the “day to day” operations of the firm, due to his role as Mayor of the City of Willoughby, he is passionate about giving back to the larger community. Having always been located in Willoughby, with a legacy reaching back to 1951, Bob has been intricately involved in TDA’s development over the years. “It’s the story of a “home grown” firm, that was founded in the city, grew in the city and made a significant investment in the city. This whole organization is about economic development, and it’s happening right here.”
Currently, with over $300 million dollars in educational construction across Northeast Ohio, an historic school seemed like the best home to design the new educational facilities of the future. “We are heavily vested in the educational marketplace, schools, sports facilities and performing arts centers,” commented Chris Smith. “Designing from an historic school made so much sense for us. In fact, Jeff Henderson, a lead designer on the project actually went to school here years ago.”
School projects are very public, and we developed an engagement process with educators, administrators and the community. We wanted to carry that same idea forward in our new space.
Jeff Henderson
Architect
Defining Space Usage for Memorial Junior High School
The design process to reimagine the historic school was parallel to the process TDA uses to engage its clients when designing their new facilities.
“We began with a series of questions to our entire staff. How do we want to work? How do we want to collaborate? How do we want to feast? How do we want to celebrate?,” explained Educational Design Lead, Abby Rainieri. “We engaged the staff through a “Visioning Session,” to gather feedback from the staff on how to use the space.”
Spaces in the building were then organized into 4 distinct groups, each one encouraged collaboration and productivity in different ways. “You have public space, private space, working alone and working together. Those are the four types of spaces on the axis. We really found that through that division, all the spaces we needed fell into one of those four quadrants,” explained Abby.
Lake County Development Council’s, first “In-Person Meeting” – ThenDesign Architecture
“TDA was always successful but now they have moved from success to significance. We’re very proud of them and pleased to have them downtown.”
David Anderson
Former Mayor of the City of Willoughby
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial in Willoughby
The finished project has surfaced fond memories from Memorial Junior High School alumni, who attended at the school years ago. It has been received well by county leadership, business owners and community members. In late June, Lake County Development Council held their first in-person meeting, hosted at TDA’s new building.
At the event, former Mayor Dave Anderson commented: “We are so proud of TDA. They were a big part of downtown in the Carrel building, and will continue to be with this building here.” With his experience working to develop Willoughby’s downtown during his tenure, those comments were particularly impactful. “TDA was always successful but now they have moved from success to significance. We’re very proud of them and pleased to have them downtown.”
Memorial Junior High School, Prior to Renovation – ThenDesign Architecture
Acquiring Memorial Junior High School
“Back when the Willoughby/Eastlake School system moved their Vocational Tech Center, they had no further need of these two buildings,” explained Mr. Anderson. “As mayor at the time, I knew Willoughby faced a significant challenge.”
When the Willoughby/Eastlake school system had to divest itself of property, they had two options, either put the property, which was in the heart of Willoughby’s downtown up for auction, or transfer it to another government entity.
Knowing this, the School District decided to transfer two vacant properties to the City of Willoughby who then appraised the properties and took proposals from developers for both Buildings A and B, while retaining the property which is now Wes Point Park. ThenDesign Architecture purchased the site known as “Building B” to renovate and relocate their offices to.
Since then, the building has become a hub of architectural activity, designed for project work and group collaboration, it includes flexible areas for team meetings and other creative work.
“It’s an awesome day here for all of us at TDA.”
Chris Smith
President and CEO of ThenDesign Architecture
ThenDesign Welcomes Staff Back to the New Relocated Office
In early June 2021, the building was officially opened, and administrative and architectural staff were welcomed back after 16 months of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both Chris Smith and Bob Fiala participated in a ceremonial ribbon cutting and activities at this “Welcome Back” event.
Speaking at the Ribbon Cutting, Chris addressed the staff, “It’s an awesome day here for all of us at TDA. This whole idea and concept was Bob’s idea. And I don’t think there’s anybody more committed to their community, that I know of. This is both gratifying for him, not only as a new home TDA, but also, as a major reinvestment in our community.”
Understanding the significance of this building in the local community, ThenDesign Architecture looks forward to hosting a community focused “Ribbon Cutting Event.” This is tentatively planned for the end of 2021 and all of those who are interested in seeing the finished space, are encouraged to see the reimagined Memorial Junior High School.
In the meantime, we would love to hear from you. If you are an alumni and have memories from the space, we would love to hear about your experiences.
Mayor Fiala recognized the challenges of both the construction project and the stresses of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic but looks forward to what will be done at the new office. “There is nothing more valuable than seeing everybody together in the same building at the same time. This is where true collaboration begins, and where it exists.”
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial Junior High for New Offices in WilloughbyWith the completion of the renovation project, ThenDesign Architecture moves to their new home in Downtown Willoughby.
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial Junior High in Willoughby
In 2017, ThenDesign Architecture undertook the challenging task of breathing new life into the historic Memorial Junior High in downtown Willoughby. Committed to the economic development of the Willoughby community, Bob Fiala, the founding partner of TDA and Executive Chairman and Chris Smith, the President and CEO, decided to reimagine the former school and develop it to become the new headquarters for an “education focused,” architectural firm. In early 2021, ThenDesign Architecture relocates to Memorial Junior High in Willoughby Ohio for their new offices.
Interior Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
“There is nothing more valuable than seeing everybody together in the same building at the same time. This is where true collaboration begins, and where it exists.”
Robert Fiala
Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of ThenDesign Architecture
Economic Development in Willoughby
“This is a story about economic development.” said Bob Fiala, of TDA. While Bob is not involved in the “day to day” operations of the firm, due to his role as Mayor of the City of Willoughby, he is passionate about giving back to the larger community. Having always been located in Willoughby, with a legacy reaching back to 1951, Bob has been intricately involved in TDA’s development over the years. “It’s the story of a “home grown” firm, that was founded in the city, grew in the city and made a significant investment in the city. This whole organization is about economic development, and it’s happening right here.”
Currently, with over $300 million dollars in educational construction across Northeast Ohio, an historic school seemed like the best home to design the new educational facilities of the future. “We are heavily vested in the educational marketplace, schools, sports facilities and performing arts centers,” commented Chris Smith. “Designing from an historic school made so much sense for us. In fact, Jeff Henderson, a lead designer on the project actually went to school here years ago.”
School projects are very public, and we developed an engagement process with educators, administrators and the community. We wanted to carry that same idea forward in our new space.
Jeff Henderson
Architect
Defining Space Usage for Memorial Junior High School
The design process to reimagine the historic school was parallel to the process TDA uses to engage its clients when designing their new facilities.
“We began with a series of questions to our entire staff. How do we want to work? How do we want to collaborate? How do we want to feast? How do we want to celebrate?,” explained Educational Design Lead, Abby Rainieri. “We engaged the staff through a “Visioning Session,” to gather feedback from the staff on how to use the space.”
Spaces in the building were then organized into 4 distinct groups, each one encouraged collaboration and productivity in different ways. “You have public space, private space, working alone and working together. Those are the four types of spaces on the axis. We really found that through that division, all the spaces we needed fell into one of those four quadrants,” explained Abby.
Lake County Development Council’s, first “In-Person Meeting” – ThenDesign Architecture
“TDA was always successful but now they have moved from success to significance. We’re very proud of them and pleased to have them downtown.”
David Anderson
Former Mayor of the City of Willoughby
ThenDesign Architecture Relocates to Memorial in Willoughby
The finished project has surfaced fond memories from Memorial Junior High School alumni, who attended at the school years ago. It has been received well by county leadership, business owners and community members. In late June, Lake County Development Council held their first in-person meeting, hosted at TDA’s new building.
At the event, former Mayor Dave Anderson commented: “We are so proud of TDA. They were a big part of downtown in the Carrel building, and will continue to be with this building here.” With his experience working to develop Willoughby’s downtown during his tenure, those comments were particularly impactful. “TDA was always successful but now they have moved from success to significance. We’re very proud of them and pleased to have them downtown.”
Memorial Junior High School, Prior to Renovation – ThenDesign Architecture
Acquiring Memorial Junior High School
“Back when the Willoughby/Eastlake School system moved their Vocational Tech Center, they had no further need of these two buildings,” explained Mr. Anderson. “As mayor at the time, I knew Willoughby faced a significant challenge.”
When the Willoughby/Eastlake school system had to divest itself of property, they had two options, either put the property, which was in the heart of Willoughby’s downtown up for auction, or transfer it to another government entity.
Knowing this, the School District decided to transfer two vacant properties to the City of Willoughby who then appraised the properties and took proposals from developers for both Buildings A and B, while retaining the property which is now Wes Point Park. ThenDesign Architecture purchased the site known as “Building B” to renovate and relocate their offices to.
Since then, the building has become a hub of architectural activity, designed for project work and group collaboration, it includes flexible areas for team meetings and other creative work.
“It’s an awesome day here for all of us at TDA.”
Chris Smith
President and CEO of ThenDesign Architecture
ThenDesign Welcomes Staff Back to the New Relocated Office
In early June 2021, the building was officially opened, and administrative and architectural staff were welcomed back after 16 months of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both Chris Smith and Bob Fiala participated in a ceremonial ribbon cutting and activities at this “Welcome Back” event.
Speaking at the Ribbon Cutting, Chris addressed the staff, “It’s an awesome day here for all of us at TDA. This whole idea and concept was Bob’s idea. And I don’t think there’s anybody more committed to their community, that I know of. This is both gratifying for him, not only as a new home TDA, but also, as a major reinvestment in our community.”
Understanding the significance of this building in the local community, ThenDesign Architecture looks forward to hosting a community focused “Ribbon Cutting Event.” This is tentatively planned for the end of 2021 and all of those who are interested in seeing the finished space, are encouraged to see the reimagined Memorial Junior High School.
In the meantime, we would love to hear from you. If you are an alumni and have memories from the space, we would love to hear about your experiences.
Mayor Fiala recognized the challenges of both the construction project and the stresses of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic but looks forward to what will be done at the new office. “There is nothing more valuable than seeing everybody together in the same building at the same time. This is where true collaboration begins, and where it exists.”
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
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Educational Visioning – Designing for the Future with the Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 CampusOn April 29th 2021, ThenDesign Architecture held an “Educational Visioning” session at the Summit Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls for the school district’s new 6-12 campus. Topics of conversation included how core academics will be enhanced, the integration of the middle and high school, and how the building can serve as “the hub of the community” in Cuyahoga Falls.
Educational Visioning for Cuyahoga Falls, New 6-12 Facility
On April 29th 2021, ThenDesign Architecture held an “Educational Visioning” session at the Summit Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls to begin designing for the future of the district’s new 6-12 campus. This day-long event focused on understanding the current challenges with the existing facilities and identifying opportunities the new building will bring. With over 80 in attendance, members of the community, students, administrators, along with architecture and construction professionals provided input on the project. Attendees were encouraged to imagine how the new facility will improve education across the district. Topics of conversation included how core academics will be enhanced, the integration of the middle and high school, and how the building can serve as “the hub of the community” in Cuyahoga Falls.
Those who attended brainstormed ideas, defined priorities, and presented educational goals that will be used during the development of the new building.
See the inside view of the Educational Visioning Session.
Our vision is Cuyahoga Falls City Schools, the “hub of our community.” We take this seriously. We want this to be a community facility, where everyone feels comfortable engaging in all the resources that this building will have.”
Karen Schofield
Board of Education President
Educational Visioning, Designing for the Future
Superintendent Todd Nichols commented: “Educational Visioning really sets the stage for us to dream big. We have the opportunity to drop all of those old, antiquated paradigms of what education was, and think about what it can be. Then we will design a building around that vision. That’s the proper process and what has led us up to this point.”
The construction site is located where the Bolich and Newberry schools currently sit. This new 370,000 sf building will include a performing arts center, sports stadium and community focused spaces.
The new school will enable new educational programs and opportunities to better serve middle and high school students in the district.
“We know that we have good teachers, and we know we have kids who love to learn,” commented Board of Education President Karen Schofield, “we know that with the combination of those two things in a new facility with appropriate ventilation, air cooling systems, natural light and flexible spaces, only great things will happen.”
“Our mission statement is “Every student, every day, every opportunity.” This building fulfills that promise to our community. So for our students, whatever you want to be, whatever you want to do, this facility will help you get there.”
Dr. Todd M. Nichols
Superintendent/CEO
Activities Designed to Set Educational Goals
Educational Visioning Sessions are built around the idea that through collaboration, discussion and exploration, attendees can set educational and architectural goals that can be achieved in the new facility. Attendees are assembled into small groups that include students, educators, parents, community members and administrators. They collaborate on three main activities which facilitate discussion. The three activities include, “Defining Success and Challenges,” “Educational Design Solutions,” and “Putting it all Together.”
The design team then analyzes the information and draws conclusions that are worked into the final architectural solution.
Exercise 1: Defining the Success and Challenges
For Cuyahoga Falls, designing for the future includes considering the success and challenges in the district. The first activity is designed to understand the current state of existing facilities. Small groups discuss these and then share their discussion with the whole audience.
The most widely reported successes were the dedicated teaching staff who are resourceful with their current facilities. Other success included expanded educational programs like Career Tech, Industrial Arts along with greenspace/outdoor learning areas and the strong sense of Black Tiger pride among the schools.
Challenges from within the district included the limited flexibility to capitalize on different learning environments, small classroom sizes and a general lack of storage. Poor site circulation which caused traffic congestion, a lack of parking, limited ADA accessibility, concerns with safety and security due to multiple building entrances and poor climate control were other primary challenges.
Results from Exercise 1:
Successes in the District
Programming opportunities including Career Tech, Industrial Arts and Extracurricular classes
Committed and dedicated staff with a focus on education
Abundance of Black Tiger Pride
Greenspace, outdoor learning areas and playgrounds
The High School offers character and nostalgia
Large, communal spaces for gatherings including the Auditorium and Gymnasium
Offering of 1 : 1 Chromebooks
Music, Band and Performing Arts programs
Supportive and involved community
Challenges in the District
The large overall footprint of the High School can be difficult to navigate and creates long walking distances throughout the building
Safety and security concerns with having multiple entrances to the building
Poor site circulation causing traffic congestion
Lack of parking
Small classroom sizes
Lack of community and meeting spaces
Limitations with technology and WiFi
Lack of student and staff storage
Limited flexibility within the building to support different learning environments
Ventilation, as well as heating and cooling of buildings
Lack of ADA accessibility
Upkeep due to aging facilities
We specifically designed this building for the community’s needs. So they can be excited that they’re going own this building and they can be proud of it.
Scott Alleman
Project Manager
Exercise 2: Educational Design Solutions
Every school district has unique community and student needs. Each building design project is an opportunity to be designing for the future and to provide an original solution to those unique needs. During the early phases of planning, it is important that key spaces and their potential future uses are identified early in the design process.
The second visioning activity presents a series of academic categories placed around the room. Attendees write how they envision how these programs could implemented in the new building. Hundreds of comments are gathered, compiled and analyzed to find similarities and outliers. These ideas are used to drive the initial layouts during the schematic design phase.
Project manager, Scott Alleman, commented: “The educational visioning session is where we’re setting our educational goals [and] designing our building around our educational goals. That’s what today is all about.”
Results from Exercise 2:
Administration
A multipurpose, inviting space with a centralized location; private space for meetings/needs; invest in new technology; staggered start times; sensory/cool down room for students; close proximity of related services to support collaboration
Career Technical
Public spaces supported by local businesses; community access; exposure to program in Elementary and Middle School; prominent location; partnership with local businesses that promote students for the workforce.
Clubs, Organizations and Partnerships
Partnering with local businesses; designated space to meet where it is flexible for multi-uses; More club offerings for all 3 levels including after school; dedicated space/post for the swim team
Core Academics
Flexible, collaborative spaces to support various learning styles; sliding glass walls for small and large group gatherings; learning pods; dry erase boards and walls; technology; outdoor learning opportunities; writing studio; dedicated teacher space
Core + More
Sensory rooms; more gifted classes; independent living pods; booths for group work; functional life skills lab; area to provide medical services; flexible seating and collaboration spaces
Food Service
Cafe style with various seating options including outdoor; integration with gardens/other academic subjects; community access; student run
Media Center
Designated media space that can serve for multi-uses, while fostering collaboration and independent studying/reading; natural light; accessible to all students; access to E-books
Music / Performing Arts
Flexible spaces for rehearsal and classrooms; more storage; more instruments; outdoor performing space; restrooms, concessions and ticket booth
Physical Education / Athletics
Fieldhouse with batting cages, indoor golf, wrestling room, locker rooms; multipurpose gym spaces; soundproof dividers; pool; indoor track; central location for all sports
Science / STEAM
Lab spaces that promote inquiry; maker spaces for inventing and collaborating; storage for all items; incorporate labs into Middle School; outdoor learning; inclusion of robotics and physics
Visual Arts
Gallery and display space; sinks; storage; dedicated photography space; natural light; ventilation; open floor plans; teacher collaboration opportunities
When this new school is done, I think it will provide more learning opportunities. The teachers will be able to do more, with more space.
Cooper
Cuyahoga Falls Student
Exercise 3: Putting It All Together
The final exercise for the day is the most challenging. Participants are tasked with using paper cut outs to explore spatial relationships on a scaled site plan.
Since there is no “correct” answer, participants work as a group to plot out where they feel the spaces should be. They are forced to grapple with how to best route traffic, where to place entrances, how the athletic facilities and performing arts spaces connect to the school and how the surrounding environment is impacted.
“This project will be transformational. The facility itself will be wrapped around the educational vision,” commented Dr. Todd Nichols, Cuyahoga Falls Superintendent said. “It is as the mayor described the “missing link” within Cuyahoga Falls. We have so much work on Front Street and Portage Crossings and State Road. This piece brings all that together.”
While each of the 10 groups had unique approaches to the building layout, there were many similarities in design. Additionally, there were several unique solutions based on the group’s dynamics. All these served to help Cuyahoga Falls begin designing for the future of their new facility.
Results from Exercise 3:
Common Themes
Shared common space for the middle and high school students including the media center, food service and student dining
A 2-story, 6-12 building
Career technical education classes visible along 13th Street to provide convenient, public access for parking and promotion of the programs available
Preservation of Newberry Park to maintain the greenery and utilize for outdoor learning opportunities including greenhouse, gardens and wellness
Adjacencies of core academic spaces including:
Performing Arts Center, music and theater
Student dining, Food service and Family and consumer science
Stadium situated on the North of the site alongside Newberry Park; utilization of existing hill for walkway, seating and/or press box
Addition of several parking lots to accommodate stadium, staff, students and visitors
Parking lot primarily on existing Bolich Middle School site
Special education integrated throughout core academics
Unique Ideas
Building separation of the middle school and high school with a central courtyard or gym
Prominent main entrance to the High School and Performing Arts Center along Portage Trail for visibility to pedestrian and car traffic
One main entrance and exit to support better site circulation
Currently there are too many entrances at the high school which creates congestion
Create a grand entrance for a new competition gym, built on a gradient
Separation between the 6th grade students and 7th-8th students to support developmental transitions to high school.
6th grade students located on the 1st floor with Administration
7th-8th grade students located upstairs on 2nd floor
Create separate gyms for the middle school and high school students
Addition of athletic fields on site including baseball, tennis courts
“If I was a student, and saw my whole community coming together to build a building to better educate me, it would make me want to do better every day.”
Anthony Gomez
Vice President of the Board of Education
Key Takeaways
The Educational Visioning session for the Cuyahoga Falls City School District resulted in an insightful day and served as a kickoff to begin designing for the future of the new 6-12 facility. The cross section of representatives across the district and community provided a forum to recognize successes, share ideas, and imagine how the new facility will positively impact students in Cuyahoga Falls.
The design team will use information collected throughout this session along with other engagement opportunities to serve as the foundation for the design of the new 6-12 school.
Designing for the Future – Priorities from Visioning:
There is a major need for flexible, collaborative spaces to support the delivery of education and to promote independent student learning.
Traffic circulation needs to be improved. The team should explore ways to separate bus and vehicle traffic.
The new school should continue to promote Black Tiger Pride among students and faculty.
Find opportunities for shared and separate spaces for middle and high school students.
Integrating outdoor learning areas and natural daylighting is key.
The new building should be displayed prominently on the site and the spatial relationships inside should promote community access.
Educational Visioning – Designing for the Future with the Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 CampusOn April 29th 2021, ThenDesign Architecture held an “Educational Visioning” session at the Summit Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls for the school district’s new 6-12 campus. Topics of conversation included how core academics will be enhanced, the integration of the middle and high school, and how the building can serve as “the hub of the community” in Cuyahoga Falls.
Educational Visioning for Cuyahoga Falls, New 6-12 Facility
On April 29th 2021, ThenDesign Architecture held an “Educational Visioning” session at the Summit Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls to begin designing for the future of the district’s new 6-12 campus. This day-long event focused on understanding the current challenges with the existing facilities and identifying opportunities the new building will bring. With over 80 in attendance, members of the community, students, administrators, along with architecture and construction professionals provided input on the project. Attendees were encouraged to imagine how the new facility will improve education across the district. Topics of conversation included how core academics will be enhanced, the integration of the middle and high school, and how the building can serve as “the hub of the community” in Cuyahoga Falls.
Those who attended brainstormed ideas, defined priorities, and presented educational goals that will be used during the development of the new building.
See the inside view of the Educational Visioning Session.
Our vision is Cuyahoga Falls City Schools, the “hub of our community.” We take this seriously. We want this to be a community facility, where everyone feels comfortable engaging in all the resources that this building will have.”
Karen Schofield
Board of Education President
Educational Visioning, Designing for the Future
Superintendent Todd Nichols commented: “Educational Visioning really sets the stage for us to dream big. We have the opportunity to drop all of those old, antiquated paradigms of what education was, and think about what it can be. Then we will design a building around that vision. That’s the proper process and what has led us up to this point.”
The construction site is located where the Bolich and Newberry schools currently sit. This new 370,000 sf building will include a performing arts center, sports stadium and community focused spaces.
The new school will enable new educational programs and opportunities to better serve middle and high school students in the district.
“We know that we have good teachers, and we know we have kids who love to learn,” commented Board of Education President Karen Schofield, “we know that with the combination of those two things in a new facility with appropriate ventilation, air cooling systems, natural light and flexible spaces, only great things will happen.”
“Our mission statement is “Every student, every day, every opportunity.” This building fulfills that promise to our community. So for our students, whatever you want to be, whatever you want to do, this facility will help you get there.”
Dr. Todd M. Nichols
Superintendent/CEO
Activities Designed to Set Educational Goals
Educational Visioning Sessions are built around the idea that through collaboration, discussion and exploration, attendees can set educational and architectural goals that can be achieved in the new facility. Attendees are assembled into small groups that include students, educators, parents, community members and administrators. They collaborate on three main activities which facilitate discussion. The three activities include, “Defining Success and Challenges,” “Educational Design Solutions,” and “Putting it all Together.”
The design team then analyzes the information and draws conclusions that are worked into the final architectural solution.
Exercise 1: Defining the Success and Challenges
For Cuyahoga Falls, designing for the future includes considering the success and challenges in the district. The first activity is designed to understand the current state of existing facilities. Small groups discuss these and then share their discussion with the whole audience.
The most widely reported successes were the dedicated teaching staff who are resourceful with their current facilities. Other success included expanded educational programs like Career Tech, Industrial Arts along with greenspace/outdoor learning areas and the strong sense of Black Tiger pride among the schools.
Challenges from within the district included the limited flexibility to capitalize on different learning environments, small classroom sizes and a general lack of storage. Poor site circulation which caused traffic congestion, a lack of parking, limited ADA accessibility, concerns with safety and security due to multiple building entrances and poor climate control were other primary challenges.
Results from Exercise 1:
Successes in the District
Programming opportunities including Career Tech, Industrial Arts and Extracurricular classes
Committed and dedicated staff with a focus on education
Abundance of Black Tiger Pride
Greenspace, outdoor learning areas and playgrounds
The High School offers character and nostalgia
Large, communal spaces for gatherings including the Auditorium and Gymnasium
Offering of 1 : 1 Chromebooks
Music, Band and Performing Arts programs
Supportive and involved community
Challenges in the District
The large overall footprint of the High School can be difficult to navigate and creates long walking distances throughout the building
Safety and security concerns with having multiple entrances to the building
Poor site circulation causing traffic congestion
Lack of parking
Small classroom sizes
Lack of community and meeting spaces
Limitations with technology and WiFi
Lack of student and staff storage
Limited flexibility within the building to support different learning environments
Ventilation, as well as heating and cooling of buildings
Lack of ADA accessibility
Upkeep due to aging facilities
We specifically designed this building for the community’s needs. So they can be excited that they’re going own this building and they can be proud of it.
Scott Alleman
Project Manager
Exercise 2: Educational Design Solutions
Every school district has unique community and student needs. Each building design project is an opportunity to be designing for the future and to provide an original solution to those unique needs. During the early phases of planning, it is important that key spaces and their potential future uses are identified early in the design process.
The second visioning activity presents a series of academic categories placed around the room. Attendees write how they envision how these programs could implemented in the new building. Hundreds of comments are gathered, compiled and analyzed to find similarities and outliers. These ideas are used to drive the initial layouts during the schematic design phase.
Project manager, Scott Alleman, commented: “The educational visioning session is where we’re setting our educational goals [and] designing our building around our educational goals. That’s what today is all about.”
Results from Exercise 2:
Administration
A multipurpose, inviting space with a centralized location; private space for meetings/needs; invest in new technology; staggered start times; sensory/cool down room for students; close proximity of related services to support collaboration
Career Technical
Public spaces supported by local businesses; community access; exposure to program in Elementary and Middle School; prominent location; partnership with local businesses that promote students for the workforce.
Clubs, Organizations and Partnerships
Partnering with local businesses; designated space to meet where it is flexible for multi-uses; More club offerings for all 3 levels including after school; dedicated space/post for the swim team
Core Academics
Flexible, collaborative spaces to support various learning styles; sliding glass walls for small and large group gatherings; learning pods; dry erase boards and walls; technology; outdoor learning opportunities; writing studio; dedicated teacher space
Core + More
Sensory rooms; more gifted classes; independent living pods; booths for group work; functional life skills lab; area to provide medical services; flexible seating and collaboration spaces
Food Service
Cafe style with various seating options including outdoor; integration with gardens/other academic subjects; community access; student run
Media Center
Designated media space that can serve for multi-uses, while fostering collaboration and independent studying/reading; natural light; accessible to all students; access to E-books
Music / Performing Arts
Flexible spaces for rehearsal and classrooms; more storage; more instruments; outdoor performing space; restrooms, concessions and ticket booth
Physical Education / Athletics
Fieldhouse with batting cages, indoor golf, wrestling room, locker rooms; multipurpose gym spaces; soundproof dividers; pool; indoor track; central location for all sports
Science / STEAM
Lab spaces that promote inquiry; maker spaces for inventing and collaborating; storage for all items; incorporate labs into Middle School; outdoor learning; inclusion of robotics and physics
Visual Arts
Gallery and display space; sinks; storage; dedicated photography space; natural light; ventilation; open floor plans; teacher collaboration opportunities
When this new school is done, I think it will provide more learning opportunities. The teachers will be able to do more, with more space.
Cooper
Cuyahoga Falls Student
Exercise 3: Putting It All Together
The final exercise for the day is the most challenging. Participants are tasked with using paper cut outs to explore spatial relationships on a scaled site plan.
Since there is no “correct” answer, participants work as a group to plot out where they feel the spaces should be. They are forced to grapple with how to best route traffic, where to place entrances, how the athletic facilities and performing arts spaces connect to the school and how the surrounding environment is impacted.
“This project will be transformational. The facility itself will be wrapped around the educational vision,” commented Dr. Todd Nichols, Cuyahoga Falls Superintendent said. “It is as the mayor described the “missing link” within Cuyahoga Falls. We have so much work on Front Street and Portage Crossings and State Road. This piece brings all that together.”
While each of the 10 groups had unique approaches to the building layout, there were many similarities in design. Additionally, there were several unique solutions based on the group’s dynamics. All these served to help Cuyahoga Falls begin designing for the future of their new facility.
Results from Exercise 3:
Common Themes
Shared common space for the middle and high school students including the media center, food service and student dining
A 2-story, 6-12 building
Career technical education classes visible along 13th Street to provide convenient, public access for parking and promotion of the programs available
Preservation of Newberry Park to maintain the greenery and utilize for outdoor learning opportunities including greenhouse, gardens and wellness
Adjacencies of core academic spaces including:
Performing Arts Center, music and theater
Student dining, Food service and Family and consumer science
Stadium situated on the North of the site alongside Newberry Park; utilization of existing hill for walkway, seating and/or press box
Addition of several parking lots to accommodate stadium, staff, students and visitors
Parking lot primarily on existing Bolich Middle School site
Special education integrated throughout core academics
Unique Ideas
Building separation of the middle school and high school with a central courtyard or gym
Prominent main entrance to the High School and Performing Arts Center along Portage Trail for visibility to pedestrian and car traffic
One main entrance and exit to support better site circulation
Currently there are too many entrances at the high school which creates congestion
Create a grand entrance for a new competition gym, built on a gradient
Separation between the 6th grade students and 7th-8th students to support developmental transitions to high school.
6th grade students located on the 1st floor with Administration
7th-8th grade students located upstairs on 2nd floor
Create separate gyms for the middle school and high school students
Addition of athletic fields on site including baseball, tennis courts
“If I was a student, and saw my whole community coming together to build a building to better educate me, it would make me want to do better every day.”
Anthony Gomez
Vice President of the Board of Education
Key Takeaways
The Educational Visioning session for the Cuyahoga Falls City School District resulted in an insightful day and served as a kickoff to begin designing for the future of the new 6-12 facility. The cross section of representatives across the district and community provided a forum to recognize successes, share ideas, and imagine how the new facility will positively impact students in Cuyahoga Falls.
The design team will use information collected throughout this session along with other engagement opportunities to serve as the foundation for the design of the new 6-12 school.
Designing for the Future – Priorities from Visioning:
There is a major need for flexible, collaborative spaces to support the delivery of education and to promote independent student learning.
Traffic circulation needs to be improved. The team should explore ways to separate bus and vehicle traffic.
The new school should continue to promote Black Tiger Pride among students and faculty.
Find opportunities for shared and separate spaces for middle and high school students.
Integrating outdoor learning areas and natural daylighting is key.
The new building should be displayed prominently on the site and the spatial relationships inside should promote community access.
New Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus – Meet the Architect & Construction ManagerAs design commences for the new Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus, the school district conducted it’s first “in-person” engagement with ThenDesign Architecture, Hammond Construction and members of the community on April 15th. The team met to introduce themselves, describe the scope of the project, answer questions and talk about how this new facility will impact education in the community.
New Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus
As design commences for the new Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus, the Cuyahoga Falls City School District conducted its’ first “in-person” engagement with ThenDesign Architecture, Hammond Construction and members of the community on April 15th. The team met to introduce themselves, describe the scope of the project, answer questions and talk about how this new facility will impact education in the community. Held in the Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, the interactive session was offered for both in-person attendees and via livestream video for the community. The team provided an inside look on how buildings are designed and presented the next several milestones to look forward to. While this is only the first of many engagement opportunities, many community members came out to support the project, offer ideas for the future school and better understand what opportunities this facility will bring in the years ahead.
The Project Scope
The project scope includes the design and construction of a new 370,000 sf building that houses grades 6-12. The building will ultimately sit on the site currently occupied by the Bolich Middle School and will host a performing arts center and 5,000-seat sports stadium. This innovative facility will open up a range of new possibilities for academic programming and collaboration, larger athletic events and a streamlined education experience for students.
In a recent interviewCuyahoga Falls City Mayor Don Walters recently commented, “This will be the ‘missing piece’ to our City and everything will be complete because the campus environment is perfect.” He continues, “It’s just time [for this new school], and once that is built, and we get the old high school redeveloped and every piece is covered in the City. We will have a good economic base, we have good school systems and everything is complete. So, we are really, really excited to see that.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by those at the community meeting, many of whom supported the bond process in 2019.
The project is estimated to cost $113.8 million, with the district funding $80.6 million, from the bond issue, while the state of Ohio through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC), is contributing $33.2 million. That amount goes directly towards the new construction of a 6-12 building, stadium complex and demolition of Bolich Middle School and the Newberry Elementary School.
“We’re going to be meeting with our staff and we’ll be listening to what they have to say to inform the design. We are beginning with an “educational vision” and designing a building to meet those needs.”
Dr. Todd M. Nichols
Superintendent/CEO
Cuyahoga Falls New 6-12 Campus Design Process
In order to kick off the design process, ThenDesign Architecture, along with the district, has planned a series of engagements crafted to inform the overall design of the project during initial schematic and programming phases. Chris Smith, president of TDA, commented on Thursday night, “We’re in the thinking business, not simply the drawing business. We don’t believe our “name” should be on the door, our nature is to be collaborative, it’s not about us, we don’t dictate design. Our buildings reflect the communities where they reside and I think you’ll be proud to call this your design, your building.”
Architects have also begun speaking with educators from the High School, along with Bolich and Roberts Middle Schools for input on the interior layout. Teachers are asked to discuss their educational needs, while imagining new ways their initiatives can be improved by this new space. Ideas generated from these sessions are used to inform the interior adjacencies, classroom sizes, collaborative areas and furniture needs. This type of engagement will continue throughout the summer. These initial sessions allow current staff to expand their minds on how their new building can improve their efforts.
Cuyahoga Falls New 6-12 Campus and 21st Century Design
A major element of this project is combining the high school and middle schools together into one campus. This arrangement brings a variety of benefits.
While a physical separation between the two schools is still maintained, efficiencies are achieved by having both schools share major spaces such as athletics areas and the performing arts center. In addition, bringing all educators under one roof allows for collaboration which simply wasn’t possible before. With better access to a variety of educators, middle school students can potentially take advantage of accelerated programs offered at the high school. Finally, young students often find that the crucial transition from middle to high school is much easier, since they are in the same familiar building, now just in a different wing.
Even though the building is still in the early stages of design, Dr. Nichols made it clear that an important aspect of this project is to create a nurturing environment where 6th graders can gently transition into their new environment, providing them a safe environment and autonomy to prepare for their future education.
This mixture of educational collaboration, flexibility and autonomy are all hallmarks of good 21st century design.
“We firmly believe that we have to trust our professional educators to design the inside of the building. Then we believe that the community at large, lends a leading hand in helping us design the exterior of the building, how it interfaces with community playgrounds, parent drop-offs and pickups. So there is a trust there.”
Chris Smith
President TDA
Cuyahoga Falls Community Feedback and Questions & Answers
For many longtime residents, who have been through the Cuyahoga Falls school system, they look forward to the new campus. One attendee commented: “We’re very excited for the school district, for Cuyahoga Falls and for property values. We feel that Mayor Walters has done so many good things for this City and that Dr. Nichols has done good things too.” They continue, “the school is like the “pièce de résistance.” It’s the final touch. We need it, and we have to do it.”
Speaking to when the project will be completed, Bill Schurman, President of Hammond Construction commented, “We are committed to the new building being occupied in August [2025]. So that means we turn it over in the summer, allowing for a transition period for staff. These dates will be fine-tuned as the design evolves.” Residents can look forward to future updates as the design process progresses.
After the presentation, the district, TDA and Hammond held a Q+A session. Questions ranged from project construction phasing, how the construction process worked, what separation between the middle school and high school would look like, how much time was lost by the Covid-19 pandemic and how safety measures will be implemented in a school of that size.
Some questions revolved around the site usage, and whether traffic flow would negatively impact the surrounding neighborhoods. Mr. Smith responded, “Part of our philosophy in facility design is to get all the school traffic off the street. This is so all of that is contained on our site, we want to get it off the street. The same goes when managing storm water. this is key in the low areas by Newberry Elementary School.”
Dr. Nichols encouraged those with questions to submit them to the district for further consideration. The district is committed to keeping the community updated on the project throughout the process on their construction focused website: “Building Community.”
Homework Assignment for Cuyahoga Falls Community Members
The next engagement session for community members will be held on May 13th, focusing on a “Visual Preference Exercise.” They were encouraged to think about their favorite building in Cuyahoga Falls and why. This can then start to establish a common aesthetic trend for what the exterior of the building could look like. Scott Alleman, Project Manager for TDA commented, “Examples for this could be the Natatorium, or the church down the street, but think of something that is your favorite piece of architecture and why you feel that reflects the community. Keep that in mind when we come back on May 13th for the visual preference exercise!”
What is your favorite piece of Cuyahoga Falls Architecture and why? Drop us a line and let us know!
Reach Out to Learn More
Closing out the engagement, Dr. Nichols embraced the collaborative spirit in the community and the team making this new facility possible. He looks forward to the process continuing, “I want to thank you all so much for being here this evening. Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends, engage more and more of the community. We’re going to be meeting with our staff and we’ll be listening to what they have to say, to inform the design, because we are beginning with an educational vision and designing a building, to meet those needs.”
If you are interested in learning more about this project, visit the Cuyahoga Falls page “Building Community.” If you have ideas or questions surrounding the process, reach out to John Wasylko, Community Relations at Cuyahoga Falls City School District at cf_wasylkoj@cftigers.org.
Also, let us know what your favorite piece of architecture in Cuyahoga Falls is and why! Send your pictures to Ryan Caswell at rcaswell@thendesign.com. We want to hear from you and incorporate that feedback into the exterior design!
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
New Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus – Meet the Architect & Construction ManagerAs design commences for the new Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus, the school district conducted it’s first “in-person” engagement with ThenDesign Architecture, Hammond Construction and members of the community on April 15th. The team met to introduce themselves, describe the scope of the project, answer questions and talk about how this new facility will impact education in the community.
New Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus
As design commences for the new Cuyahoga Falls 6-12 Campus, the Cuyahoga Falls City School District conducted its’ first “in-person” engagement with ThenDesign Architecture, Hammond Construction and members of the community on April 15th. The team met to introduce themselves, describe the scope of the project, answer questions and talk about how this new facility will impact education in the community. Held in the Cuyahoga Falls High School Auditorium, the interactive session was offered for both in-person attendees and via livestream video for the community. The team provided an inside look on how buildings are designed and presented the next several milestones to look forward to. While this is only the first of many engagement opportunities, many community members came out to support the project, offer ideas for the future school and better understand what opportunities this facility will bring in the years ahead.
The Project Scope
The project scope includes the design and construction of a new 370,000 sf building that houses grades 6-12. The building will ultimately sit on the site currently occupied by the Bolich Middle School and will host a performing arts center and 5,000-seat sports stadium. This innovative facility will open up a range of new possibilities for academic programming and collaboration, larger athletic events and a streamlined education experience for students.
In a recent interviewCuyahoga Falls City Mayor Don Walters recently commented, “This will be the ‘missing piece’ to our City and everything will be complete because the campus environment is perfect.” He continues, “It’s just time [for this new school], and once that is built, and we get the old high school redeveloped and every piece is covered in the City. We will have a good economic base, we have good school systems and everything is complete. So, we are really, really excited to see that.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by those at the community meeting, many of whom supported the bond process in 2019.
The project is estimated to cost $113.8 million, with the district funding $80.6 million, from the bond issue, while the state of Ohio through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC), is contributing $33.2 million. That amount goes directly towards the new construction of a 6-12 building, stadium complex and demolition of Bolich Middle School and the Newberry Elementary School.
“We’re going to be meeting with our staff and we’ll be listening to what they have to say to inform the design. We are beginning with an “educational vision” and designing a building to meet those needs.”
Dr. Todd M. Nichols
Superintendent/CEO
Cuyahoga Falls New 6-12 Campus Design Process
In order to kick off the design process, ThenDesign Architecture, along with the district, has planned a series of engagements crafted to inform the overall design of the project during initial schematic and programming phases. Chris Smith, president of TDA, commented on Thursday night, “We’re in the thinking business, not simply the drawing business. We don’t believe our “name” should be on the door, our nature is to be collaborative, it’s not about us, we don’t dictate design. Our buildings reflect the communities where they reside and I think you’ll be proud to call this your design, your building.”
Architects have also begun speaking with educators from the High School, along with Bolich and Roberts Middle Schools for input on the interior layout. Teachers are asked to discuss their educational needs, while imagining new ways their initiatives can be improved by this new space. Ideas generated from these sessions are used to inform the interior adjacencies, classroom sizes, collaborative areas and furniture needs. This type of engagement will continue throughout the summer. These initial sessions allow current staff to expand their minds on how their new building can improve their efforts.
Cuyahoga Falls New 6-12 Campus and 21st Century Design
A major element of this project is combining the high school and middle schools together into one campus. This arrangement brings a variety of benefits.
While a physical separation between the two schools is still maintained, efficiencies are achieved by having both schools share major spaces such as athletics areas and the performing arts center. In addition, bringing all educators under one roof allows for collaboration which simply wasn’t possible before. With better access to a variety of educators, middle school students can potentially take advantage of accelerated programs offered at the high school. Finally, young students often find that the crucial transition from middle to high school is much easier, since they are in the same familiar building, now just in a different wing.
Even though the building is still in the early stages of design, Dr. Nichols made it clear that an important aspect of this project is to create a nurturing environment where 6th graders can gently transition into their new environment, providing them a safe environment and autonomy to prepare for their future education.
This mixture of educational collaboration, flexibility and autonomy are all hallmarks of good 21st century design.
“We firmly believe that we have to trust our professional educators to design the inside of the building. Then we believe that the community at large, lends a leading hand in helping us design the exterior of the building, how it interfaces with community playgrounds, parent drop-offs and pickups. So there is a trust there.”
Chris Smith
President TDA
Cuyahoga Falls Community Feedback and Questions & Answers
For many longtime residents, who have been through the Cuyahoga Falls school system, they look forward to the new campus. One attendee commented: “We’re very excited for the school district, for Cuyahoga Falls and for property values. We feel that Mayor Walters has done so many good things for this City and that Dr. Nichols has done good things too.” They continue, “the school is like the “pièce de résistance.” It’s the final touch. We need it, and we have to do it.”
Speaking to when the project will be completed, Bill Schurman, President of Hammond Construction commented, “We are committed to the new building being occupied in August [2025]. So that means we turn it over in the summer, allowing for a transition period for staff. These dates will be fine-tuned as the design evolves.” Residents can look forward to future updates as the design process progresses.
After the presentation, the district, TDA and Hammond held a Q+A session. Questions ranged from project construction phasing, how the construction process worked, what separation between the middle school and high school would look like, how much time was lost by the Covid-19 pandemic and how safety measures will be implemented in a school of that size.
Some questions revolved around the site usage, and whether traffic flow would negatively impact the surrounding neighborhoods. Mr. Smith responded, “Part of our philosophy in facility design is to get all the school traffic off the street. This is so all of that is contained on our site, we want to get it off the street. The same goes when managing storm water. this is key in the low areas by Newberry Elementary School.”
Dr. Nichols encouraged those with questions to submit them to the district for further consideration. The district is committed to keeping the community updated on the project throughout the process on their construction focused website: “Building Community.”
Homework Assignment for Cuyahoga Falls Community Members
The next engagement session for community members will be held on May 13th, focusing on a “Visual Preference Exercise.” They were encouraged to think about their favorite building in Cuyahoga Falls and why. This can then start to establish a common aesthetic trend for what the exterior of the building could look like. Scott Alleman, Project Manager for TDA commented, “Examples for this could be the Natatorium, or the church down the street, but think of something that is your favorite piece of architecture and why you feel that reflects the community. Keep that in mind when we come back on May 13th for the visual preference exercise!”
What is your favorite piece of Cuyahoga Falls Architecture and why? Drop us a line and let us know!
Reach Out to Learn More
Closing out the engagement, Dr. Nichols embraced the collaborative spirit in the community and the team making this new facility possible. He looks forward to the process continuing, “I want to thank you all so much for being here this evening. Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends, engage more and more of the community. We’re going to be meeting with our staff and we’ll be listening to what they have to say, to inform the design, because we are beginning with an educational vision and designing a building, to meet those needs.”
If you are interested in learning more about this project, visit the Cuyahoga Falls page “Building Community.” If you have ideas or questions surrounding the process, reach out to John Wasylko, Community Relations at Cuyahoga Falls City School District at cf_wasylkoj@cftigers.org.
Also, let us know what your favorite piece of architecture in Cuyahoga Falls is and why! Send your pictures to Ryan Caswell at rcaswell@thendesign.com. We want to hear from you and incorporate that feedback into the exterior design!
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Buildings in a Landscape – ACE Mentor ProgramThenDesign Architecture actively participates in the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. In a recent session, Jeff Henderson highlighted the different ways architects situate buildings in a landscape. He simplified this complicated concept for high school students, identifying six commonly used ways structures can shape the activity in a landscape.
ThenDesign Architecture is a proud participant of the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. The ACE Mentor Program is an afterschool, educational program that exposes high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries. Partnering with schools across the United States, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, designers from TDA recently explored how situating buildings in a landscape can impact the overall activity on a site. Jeff Henderson explained 6 ways that buildings in a landscape can shape this space and experience.
ACE Mentor Program
The ACE Mentor Program of America is an afterschool program which was crafted to attract high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries as well as the skilled trades. With over 70 affiliates across 37 states in the continental United States, the program is mostly based in metropolitan areas and allows students to explore different design projects within the industry. Many firms who partner with the ACE Mentor Program, provide a well-rounded experience allowing students to see the many facets of our interconnected industry.
At TDA, several of our designers participate in this important program. We have seen the impact this educational initiative has on students who are interested in the field.
6 Types of Buildings in a Landscape
As an illustration in his presentation, Jeff modeled 6 ways to situate buildings in a landscape and how this will affect the site.
Object: When a structure is placed in the center of a landscape, it is seen as an “object.” This means that the building is the most important element on the site. This gives the architecture more visual presence over any other pieces on the site. When creating designs where the building is an object, it is often set apart and above the landscape, creating a clear separation between the two.
Street: When structures are placed in a tight row across from each other, they define a streetscape in the landscape. This street creates a thoroughfare that emphasizes movement, directing traffic and occupants to pass through the space. Usually, streets designed in this manner don’t allow for easy pedestrian traffic.
Boulevard: When the structures are pushed back, it allows for an additional street with landscaping in the middle. That larger space gives the street more of a sense of “place.” Often there are opportunities for plantings and additional pedestrian activity alongside the streetscape.
Park: With the streets moved outside, this allows the space in the middle to be used for purely pedestrian use. A park atmosphere is created since it is protected from busy traffic and can be used for a range of human activities. The structures adjacent to the park can easily access its interior with minimal effort.
Focal Point: Once the park area is enclosed, the landscape is now even more protected by the structures that ring it. This is a courtyard arrangement and visual emphasis is placed on the activity that happens inside this ring. This arrangement makes the interior park the most important aspect of the landscape.
Integrated Landscape: In this arrangement structures are actively engaged in the landscape. It’s possible for an occupant to experience both the structure and landscape at the same time. It opens up a range of architectural possibilities like installing a green roof or introducing plant life more extensively into the building.
“Our goal is to simplify complicated processes and make them easy for anyone to understand.”
Jeff Henderson
Architect
While there are many other ways to situate buildings in a landscape, these major categories are commonly found in both urban and suburban developments. However, these strategies don’t just affect large developments, they can also be employed when designing schools and other educational facilities. At the start of each project, we have the opportunity to rethink how the structure engages with its landscape to promote a district’s learning goals and further their student’s education.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Buildings in a Landscape – ACE Mentor ProgramThenDesign Architecture actively participates in the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. In a recent session, Jeff Henderson highlighted the different ways architects situate buildings in a landscape. He simplified this complicated concept for high school students, identifying six commonly used ways structures can shape the activity in a landscape.
ThenDesign Architecture is a proud participant of the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. The ACE Mentor Program is an afterschool, educational program that exposes high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries. Partnering with schools across the United States, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, designers from TDA recently explored how situating buildings in a landscape can impact the overall activity on a site. Jeff Henderson explained 6 ways that buildings in a landscape can shape this space and experience.
ACE Mentor Program
The ACE Mentor Program of America is an afterschool program which was crafted to attract high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries as well as the skilled trades. With over 70 affiliates across 37 states in the continental United States, the program is mostly based in metropolitan areas and allows students to explore different design projects within the industry. Many firms who partner with the ACE Mentor Program, provide a well-rounded experience allowing students to see the many facets of our interconnected industry.
At TDA, several of our designers participate in this important program. We have seen the impact this educational initiative has on students who are interested in the field.
6 Types of Buildings in a Landscape
As an illustration in his presentation, Jeff modeled 6 ways to situate buildings in a landscape and how this will affect the site.
Object: When a structure is placed in the center of a landscape, it is seen as an “object.” This means that the building is the most important element on the site. This gives the architecture more visual presence over any other pieces on the site. When creating designs where the building is an object, it is often set apart and above the landscape, creating a clear separation between the two.
Street: When structures are placed in a tight row across from each other, they define a streetscape in the landscape. This street creates a thoroughfare that emphasizes movement, directing traffic and occupants to pass through the space. Usually, streets designed in this manner don’t allow for easy pedestrian traffic.
Boulevard: When the structures are pushed back, it allows for an additional street with landscaping in the middle. That larger space gives the street more of a sense of “place.” Often there are opportunities for plantings and additional pedestrian activity alongside the streetscape.
Park: With the streets moved outside, this allows the space in the middle to be used for purely pedestrian use. A park atmosphere is created since it is protected from busy traffic and can be used for a range of human activities. The structures adjacent to the park can easily access its interior with minimal effort.
Focal Point: Once the park area is enclosed, the landscape is now even more protected by the structures that ring it. This is a courtyard arrangement and visual emphasis is placed on the activity that happens inside this ring. This arrangement makes the interior park the most important aspect of the landscape.
Integrated Landscape: In this arrangement structures are actively engaged in the landscape. It’s possible for an occupant to experience both the structure and landscape at the same time. It opens up a range of architectural possibilities like installing a green roof or introducing plant life more extensively into the building.
“Our goal is to simplify complicated processes and make them easy for anyone to understand.”
Jeff Henderson
Architect
While there are many other ways to situate buildings in a landscape, these major categories are commonly found in both urban and suburban developments. However, these strategies don’t just affect large developments, they can also be employed when designing schools and other educational facilities. At the start of each project, we have the opportunity to rethink how the structure engages with its landscape to promote a district’s learning goals and further their student’s education.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Memorial Junior High School – An Adaptive Reuse ProjectDowntown Willoughby is home to many historic structures, some of them going back to the 1800’s. Memorial Junior High School is one such building. Built in 1925, ThenDesign Architecture is adaptively re-using this building for our future headquarters. Understand what goes into the decision between renovating a historic structure or building something brand new.
“As architects, we have a professional responsibility to design environmentally sensitive buildings. We also believe strongly in investing in our community. Rehabilitating a historic school building for our new headquarters provided the opportunity to accomplish both.” stated Chris Smith, president of ThenDesign Architecture. Specializing in educational design, and having extensive experience in historic preservation, TDA is perfectly suited to rehabilitate a historic school. The project involved an adaptive reuse of Memorial Junior High School which was originally constructed in the 1920’s into TDA’s new offices. Not only did TDA’s designers have to address concerns around costs, working with the city, planning commission and community, but had to consider the fine line between respecting the historic nature of the building and designing a modern office space.
Tough Decisions
TDA has operated out of historic buildings near Downtown Willoughby, for most of their history. The first building was the St. John House, an old home which the firm moved into in 1991. Then as growth continued, moved to the Carrel Building (1885) in 1998, and now the decision to repurpose and move to Memorial Junior High School (1925) in 2021. The team has always appreciated these spaces and both the aesthetic and historic quality they bring to the fabric of the community.
Memorial, or “Building B,” as many affectionately call it, sat empty for years. It being reimagined, the target of an adaptive reuse project, to become TDA’s new headquarters.
Exterior Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
However, when construction commenced and progressed, community interest has skyrocketed as did public support for the project. We greatly appreciate the outpouring of comments we have received since the beginning of the project.
“Thank you, TDA Architecture! I went there for 9th Grade, and my father-in-law attended the old Willoughby Union High School in the building. Beautiful structure and so many memories!”
“I have respect for any company that takes on such a monumental task to preserve and repurpose a school that is an important part of our city’s history. Thank you!”
“I’m so grateful this lovely, memory-filled bit of Willoughby is being given another opportunity to be a contributor to this charming city. It breaks my heart to see one representation after the next of the design and workmanship of American days gone by torn down and replaced by structures that have no heart nor character. Thank you to all of you who’ve made this happen.”
“So nice to see the building is being repaired and will be occupied by people who appreciate the historical value of the building.”
“What a wonderful way to share your enthusiasm with all of us who care about Willoughby’s charming perseverance! This was such a special place for so many people — including my late dad and brother. Thank you for update!!”
Early on, our staff studied the building and thought deeply about how this existing school could be reimagined and used as a headquarters by an educationally focused architectural firm. This thinking informed the interior spaces, finishes and the construction details. While the construction and renovation process has been challenging, keeping this landmark in the city, reusing the structure, and extending its life through good design has brought many concrete opportunities and intangible benefits for our firm.
Construction Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
“There’s something very special about educational designers being able to repurpose an historic school. This is something symbolic for our team for sure.”
Chris Smith
President of TDA
Construction Updates
A tremendous amount of progress has been made since work commenced in early 2020. After an office wide “Visioning Session” in 2015, the architectural staff worked closely with our interior designers taking feedback from the staff and transforming that into architectural designs. Incorporating technology, expanding workspaces for the designers, adding flexible meeting rooms for collaborative work, and individualized spaces for solitary work, greatly impacts how we can perform educational, planning, and architectural work in the 21st century. Focusing on a concept of education within the building, designers left the structure and utilities exposed. This allows occupants to experience it as a “living architectural museum,” understanding both historic and modern construction techniques.
The “Architectural Studio” is a two-story open space that houses our design teams. This open area supports both collaborative and individual work with room for expansion. Additional offices support additional departments such as Construction Administration, Accounting, Human Resources and Communications. Each one plays a crucial role in educational public design and architecture.
Windows on the façade were upgraded and restored to their original design, featuring rounded half arches. They provide additional insulation against the elements and replace the dated glazing installed in the early 70’s. This brings the building back to its original aesthetic. Utilities such as water, electric and data have been upgraded to support the growing activities of the staff.
An expanded “Flex Café” space provides the flexibility for large or small team meetings, video production and recording, design charettes, along with on-site client meetings that can take place safely when socially distancing.
While the space is nearing completion, the decision to renovate wasn’t an easy one. The team wrestled with whether to use this historic structure in their plans. Ultimately, Chris summed it up well, “Why would we do a renovation rather than just build a new office, especially in this area? Right now, it actually costs us more to renovate the building than it would have to build new, but I think it shows our commitment to the community and to Willoughby…Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better.”
Seeing the final renovated space come together, the impact of the reuse is striking.
The decision to renovate an old structure versus build new is a huge decision and one that we have helped many other communities face.
Construction Details – ThenDesign Architecture
Renovate or Adaptive Reuse versus New Construction?
In our K-12 educational design practice, we often collaborate with school districts who are facing the same question we did: “Should we renovate our existing facilities or construct a brand-new building?” This is a difficult question and one that’s not easily answered. However, facilities assessments are one of the many tools we have developed to help districts with this question.
The myriad of considerations are dizzying, but there are a number of overall points to consider.
Bob Orovets, a project architect with TDA, explains there are often three considerations in school design when deciding between renovation or new construction: “The decision sometimes comes down to cost, sometimes it’s the availability of land and sometimes it’s about timing.” He continues: “Often, the cost to retrofit and maintain a building exceeds that of a brand-new building. However, if you want to build a new building, its usually hard to find a piece of land big enough for a school and if you can, the question is, “Is it in the right spot to meet the neighborhood’s needs?”
In addition, architectural technologies have advanced drastically in the last 60 years. Systems for heating and cooling are now high tech, insulation in the walls and windows are much better with new construction and the longevity of roofing membranes is more durable using todays construction methods. Since many schools in Ohio were built in the 50’s and 60’s, environmental factors didn’t play as much of a role and the masonry walls weren’t built with energy efficiency in mind. These structures often lacked heating or cooling systems, so a portion of our renovation work consists of simply installing air conditioning systems into these historic structures. While this can be done successfully, aging building envelopes often leak conditioned air more readily. So, while cost savings happen through retrofitting, maintenance over the years can outweigh savings.
When it comes to both land and timing considerations though, it is a challenge to satisfy both of those at once. Bob recounts, “A lot of times we do schools on the same property, possibly in one corner of the site, so the existing school can operate and then when the new building is done, you can switch over because the school owns the land, and the new building is now finished. Then, the old school is demolished, and you can build sports facilities on this later.” Renovations to a school would mean moving students to an alternate facility to continue their education and if delays happen, it puts educators in a bind. He continues, “So sometimes it’s money-driven, sometimes it’s land-driven, and sometimes its timing-driven. If you are buying land for a new building, be prepared for a wait. It takes time to acquire enough parcels of land and consolidate them into larger portions. You might have to go through rezoning to get the school in a certain area and this could take years.” When it comes to educational design, finding a partner who has done it before is key. Bob, having been through many adaptive reuse, as well as new construction projects sums it up well: “It’s true that nothing’s easy!”
Architectural Character in the City of Willoughby – ThenDesign Architecture
“The project is a significant investment in our city, keeps a great group of professionals in our community and allows for future growth of this expanding design firm. This is a great adaptive reuse of a building that had no other practical use.”
Robert Fiala
Mayor of the City of Willoughby,
Benefits of Rehabilitation, Renovations and Adaptive Reuse
Even though the renovation work at Memorial Junior High School has been challenging, there are several benefits.
Adaptively reusing a historic structure, breathes new life into a “place” in the community. Not only is it more environmentally friendly since there is less waste from demolition, it will potentially attract new activities to an area where they weren’t present before. For Memorial, we seek to extend the activity and energy from the downtown environment further south past Wes Point Park. For this area, it’s just a continuation of our efforts in developing and reenergizing this part of Willoughby.
Speaking about the rehabilitation project, Mayor Fiala of the City of Willoughby and founding partner of TDA who supports continued preservation of the downtown area, commented: “Memorial Junior High School was built in the 1920s. The building was purchased by TDA and is now being renovated. The project is a significant investment in our City, keeps a great group of professionals in our community and allows for future growth of this expanding design firm. This is a great adaptive reuse of a building that had no other practical use.
Buildings like Memorial are part of the historic and cultural fabric community. The construction materials match other surrounding historic buildings creating a cohesive “story” of the City. Since Memorial Junior High School was often photographed, the history of this building will be told well into the future. Many of Willoughby’s residents attended this school going back to the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and appreciate the investment in. They view this adaptive reuse project as a way to keep a landmark in Willoughby well into the future.”
While those benefits may seem intangible, the impact on the architects designing future schools, in an historic school holds special significance for the designers. Chris concludes: “Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better. In a sense there is an obligation, a responsibility as an architect to be responsible environmentally and responsible towards our community, to retain that history if possible. And let us be honest, there’s something very special about educational designers being able to repurpose an historic school. This is something symbolic for our team for sure.”
Construction Details – ThenDesign Architecture
Key Takeaways:
When considering whether to renovate versus build a new structure, three major considerations are, cost, land availability and timing.
With historic structures that are rooted in a community, intangible factors, such as aesthetic value, environmental context and placemaking may provide reasons to maintain the building through rehabilitation or adaptive reuse.
“Adaptive reuse,” or changing a structure intended use, is more environmentally friendly than demolishing and rebuilding. It uses fewer resources but could cost more in maintenance over the years.
Reimagining an existing structure has the potential to reenergize a neighborhood or community and bring added activity and attention to a locality or city.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
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Memorial Junior High School – An Adaptive Reuse ProjectDowntown Willoughby is home to many historic structures, some of them going back to the 1800’s. Memorial Junior High School is one such building. Built in 1925, ThenDesign Architecture is adaptively re-using this building for our future headquarters. Understand what goes into the decision between renovating a historic structure or building something brand new.
“As architects, we have a professional responsibility to design environmentally sensitive buildings. We also believe strongly in investing in our community. Rehabilitating a historic school building for our new headquarters provided the opportunity to accomplish both.” stated Chris Smith, president of ThenDesign Architecture. Specializing in educational design, and having extensive experience in historic preservation, TDA is perfectly suited to rehabilitate a historic school. The project involved an adaptive reuse of Memorial Junior High School which was originally constructed in the 1920’s into TDA’s new offices. Not only did TDA’s designers have to address concerns around costs, working with the city, planning commission and community, but had to consider the fine line between respecting the historic nature of the building and designing a modern office space.
Tough Decisions
TDA has operated out of historic buildings near Downtown Willoughby, for most of their history. The first building was the St. John House, an old home which the firm moved into in 1991. Then as growth continued, moved to the Carrel Building (1885) in 1998, and now the decision to repurpose and move to Memorial Junior High School (1925) in 2021. The team has always appreciated these spaces and both the aesthetic and historic quality they bring to the fabric of the community.
Memorial, or “Building B,” as many affectionately call it, sat empty for years. It being reimagined, the target of an adaptive reuse project, to become TDA’s new headquarters.
Exterior Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
However, when construction commenced and progressed, community interest has skyrocketed as did public support for the project. We greatly appreciate the outpouring of comments we have received since the beginning of the project.
“Thank you, TDA Architecture! I went there for 9th Grade, and my father-in-law attended the old Willoughby Union High School in the building. Beautiful structure and so many memories!”
“I have respect for any company that takes on such a monumental task to preserve and repurpose a school that is an important part of our city’s history. Thank you!”
“I’m so grateful this lovely, memory-filled bit of Willoughby is being given another opportunity to be a contributor to this charming city. It breaks my heart to see one representation after the next of the design and workmanship of American days gone by torn down and replaced by structures that have no heart nor character. Thank you to all of you who’ve made this happen.”
“So nice to see the building is being repaired and will be occupied by people who appreciate the historical value of the building.”
“What a wonderful way to share your enthusiasm with all of us who care about Willoughby’s charming perseverance! This was such a special place for so many people — including my late dad and brother. Thank you for update!!”
Early on, our staff studied the building and thought deeply about how this existing school could be reimagined and used as a headquarters by an educationally focused architectural firm. This thinking informed the interior spaces, finishes and the construction details. While the construction and renovation process has been challenging, keeping this landmark in the city, reusing the structure, and extending its life through good design has brought many concrete opportunities and intangible benefits for our firm.
Construction Photos – ThenDesign Architecture
“There’s something very special about educational designers being able to repurpose an historic school. This is something symbolic for our team for sure.”
Chris Smith
President of TDA
Construction Updates
A tremendous amount of progress has been made since work commenced in early 2020. After an office wide “Visioning Session” in 2015, the architectural staff worked closely with our interior designers taking feedback from the staff and transforming that into architectural designs. Incorporating technology, expanding workspaces for the designers, adding flexible meeting rooms for collaborative work, and individualized spaces for solitary work, greatly impacts how we can perform educational, planning, and architectural work in the 21st century. Focusing on a concept of education within the building, designers left the structure and utilities exposed. This allows occupants to experience it as a “living architectural museum,” understanding both historic and modern construction techniques.
The “Architectural Studio” is a two-story open space that houses our design teams. This open area supports both collaborative and individual work with room for expansion. Additional offices support additional departments such as Construction Administration, Accounting, Human Resources and Communications. Each one plays a crucial role in educational public design and architecture.
Windows on the façade were upgraded and restored to their original design, featuring rounded half arches. They provide additional insulation against the elements and replace the dated glazing installed in the early 70’s. This brings the building back to its original aesthetic. Utilities such as water, electric and data have been upgraded to support the growing activities of the staff.
An expanded “Flex Café” space provides the flexibility for large or small team meetings, video production and recording, design charettes, along with on-site client meetings that can take place safely when socially distancing.
While the space is nearing completion, the decision to renovate wasn’t an easy one. The team wrestled with whether to use this historic structure in their plans. Ultimately, Chris summed it up well, “Why would we do a renovation rather than just build a new office, especially in this area? Right now, it actually costs us more to renovate the building than it would have to build new, but I think it shows our commitment to the community and to Willoughby…Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better.”
Seeing the final renovated space come together, the impact of the reuse is striking.
The decision to renovate an old structure versus build new is a huge decision and one that we have helped many other communities face.
Construction Details – ThenDesign Architecture
Renovate or Adaptive Reuse versus New Construction?
In our K-12 educational design practice, we often collaborate with school districts who are facing the same question we did: “Should we renovate our existing facilities or construct a brand-new building?” This is a difficult question and one that’s not easily answered. However, facilities assessments are one of the many tools we have developed to help districts with this question.
The myriad of considerations are dizzying, but there are a number of overall points to consider.
Bob Orovets, a project architect with TDA, explains there are often three considerations in school design when deciding between renovation or new construction: “The decision sometimes comes down to cost, sometimes it’s the availability of land and sometimes it’s about timing.” He continues: “Often, the cost to retrofit and maintain a building exceeds that of a brand-new building. However, if you want to build a new building, its usually hard to find a piece of land big enough for a school and if you can, the question is, “Is it in the right spot to meet the neighborhood’s needs?”
In addition, architectural technologies have advanced drastically in the last 60 years. Systems for heating and cooling are now high tech, insulation in the walls and windows are much better with new construction and the longevity of roofing membranes is more durable using todays construction methods. Since many schools in Ohio were built in the 50’s and 60’s, environmental factors didn’t play as much of a role and the masonry walls weren’t built with energy efficiency in mind. These structures often lacked heating or cooling systems, so a portion of our renovation work consists of simply installing air conditioning systems into these historic structures. While this can be done successfully, aging building envelopes often leak conditioned air more readily. So, while cost savings happen through retrofitting, maintenance over the years can outweigh savings.
When it comes to both land and timing considerations though, it is a challenge to satisfy both of those at once. Bob recounts, “A lot of times we do schools on the same property, possibly in one corner of the site, so the existing school can operate and then when the new building is done, you can switch over because the school owns the land, and the new building is now finished. Then, the old school is demolished, and you can build sports facilities on this later.” Renovations to a school would mean moving students to an alternate facility to continue their education and if delays happen, it puts educators in a bind. He continues, “So sometimes it’s money-driven, sometimes it’s land-driven, and sometimes its timing-driven. If you are buying land for a new building, be prepared for a wait. It takes time to acquire enough parcels of land and consolidate them into larger portions. You might have to go through rezoning to get the school in a certain area and this could take years.” When it comes to educational design, finding a partner who has done it before is key. Bob, having been through many adaptive reuse, as well as new construction projects sums it up well: “It’s true that nothing’s easy!”
Architectural Character in the City of Willoughby – ThenDesign Architecture
“The project is a significant investment in our city, keeps a great group of professionals in our community and allows for future growth of this expanding design firm. This is a great adaptive reuse of a building that had no other practical use.”
Robert Fiala
Mayor of the City of Willoughby,
Benefits of Rehabilitation, Renovations and Adaptive Reuse
Even though the renovation work at Memorial Junior High School has been challenging, there are several benefits.
Adaptively reusing a historic structure, breathes new life into a “place” in the community. Not only is it more environmentally friendly since there is less waste from demolition, it will potentially attract new activities to an area where they weren’t present before. For Memorial, we seek to extend the activity and energy from the downtown environment further south past Wes Point Park. For this area, it’s just a continuation of our efforts in developing and reenergizing this part of Willoughby.
Speaking about the rehabilitation project, Mayor Fiala of the City of Willoughby and founding partner of TDA who supports continued preservation of the downtown area, commented: “Memorial Junior High School was built in the 1920s. The building was purchased by TDA and is now being renovated. The project is a significant investment in our City, keeps a great group of professionals in our community and allows for future growth of this expanding design firm. This is a great adaptive reuse of a building that had no other practical use.
Buildings like Memorial are part of the historic and cultural fabric community. The construction materials match other surrounding historic buildings creating a cohesive “story” of the City. Since Memorial Junior High School was often photographed, the history of this building will be told well into the future. Many of Willoughby’s residents attended this school going back to the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and appreciate the investment in. They view this adaptive reuse project as a way to keep a landmark in Willoughby well into the future.”
While those benefits may seem intangible, the impact on the architects designing future schools, in an historic school holds special significance for the designers. Chris concludes: “Just because something is new doesn’t mean it’s better. In a sense there is an obligation, a responsibility as an architect to be responsible environmentally and responsible towards our community, to retain that history if possible. And let us be honest, there’s something very special about educational designers being able to repurpose an historic school. This is something symbolic for our team for sure.”
Construction Details – ThenDesign Architecture
Key Takeaways:
When considering whether to renovate versus build a new structure, three major considerations are, cost, land availability and timing.
With historic structures that are rooted in a community, intangible factors, such as aesthetic value, environmental context and placemaking may provide reasons to maintain the building through rehabilitation or adaptive reuse.
“Adaptive reuse,” or changing a structure intended use, is more environmentally friendly than demolishing and rebuilding. It uses fewer resources but could cost more in maintenance over the years.
Reimagining an existing structure has the potential to reenergize a neighborhood or community and bring added activity and attention to a locality or city.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
A Different Perspective on Architectural Drawing – ACE Mentor ProgramThenDesign Architecture has proudly participated in the ACE Mentor Program for years. This year, we taught a session on the importance of communication through architectural drawing. In order to best engage high school students in a distanced format, the team needed to come up with a unique way to demonstrate these architectural conventions.
ThenDesign Architecture is a proud participant of the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. The ACE Mentor Program is an afterschool, educational program that exposes high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries. Partnering with schools across the United States, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, designers from TDA recently explained the importance of communication in our field. For this engagement session, Jeff Henderson, Claire Bank and James Cowan built a “super-sized” architectural canvas to emphasize why we need to take a different perspective on architectural drawing.
https://youtu.be/YqaenSgL79s
About the ACE Mentor Program
The ACE Mentor Program of America is an afterschool program which was crafted to attract high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries as well as the skilled trades. With over 70 affiliates across 37 states in the continental Unites States, the program is mostly based in metropolitan areas and allow students to explore different design projects in the industry.
The program brings together more than 4,100 professionals, high school teachers and students at events, with each one covering a different aspect of the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Trade professionals deliver educational sessions, engagement activities and take students on site visits to help them better understand how the built world is shaped. ACE also awards approximately $2.5 million annually in scholarships to those who are pursuing industry centered careers.
Interestingly, more than 70% of ACE seniors enter a skilled trade program or enter college with an industry-related major. According to ACE’s student surveys, the majority of students passing through the program felt motivated to attend college and picked up skills and knowledge that weren’t covered in their formal education.
At TDA, several of our designers, have participated in this important program. We have seen firsthand the difference it makes.
“Just as a writer uses words to create a verbal story, an architect uses drawings to tell a creative visual story.”
Jeff Henderson
Architect
A Different Perspective on Architectural Drawing
Jeff Henderson, a 12-year ACE mentor at John Hay High School in Cleveland, who presented this year’s session on drawing commented: “Architectural drawing is really about telling a story. It’s a story about a building. Just as a writer uses words to create a verbal story, an architect uses drawings to tell a creative visual story.” A foundational principle of architecture is that a designer must communicate their ideas to a client or other professional on a collaborative team. To be a leader in this industry, we must be able to communicate effectively.
For Jeff, the importance of drawing touches on three vital areas–learning, thinking and communicating. He states: “For me, drawing is a form of learning. When architects see a building or walk into a space, they suddenly shift into “architect mode” and they begin asking themselves questions. “Why does it look like that?” “Why did they use that material?” “How was that detailed?” It is said that inspiration comes from anywhere and that is absolutely true. So, we analyze good buildings and good spaces and record them through drawings and notes. The second part is that drawing is a form of thinking. It is in the process of drawing where you start to think about the design of a building and it becomes a process of testing, looking at different ideas and making decisions to move the design along. The third portion is that drawing is a vital tool for communication. The ability to clearly communicate designs, visually and verbally, to clients or stakeholders is crucial. That is probably the most important skill an architect can have.
“Behind the Scenes” Setup
As a firm dedicated to educational design, we continually think about unique ways to engage students, educators, and communities. While these sessions are normally conducted in person, during this time of distanced learning and remote workshops, the mentorship team devised a new way to communicate architectural drawing conventions.
They devised a setup that involved suspending a high-definition camera, with a wide angle lens 10′ in the air in our unfinished office building. Then we laid out (3) 4’x8′ sheets of wall board side by side creating a “life sized canvas” that was 12′ wide x 8′ high. The team then took turns sketching plans, sections, elevations, and perspectives on the sheets to demonstrate how designers use these different types of drawings to communicate their ideas.
In the presentation, Jeff used these examples to illustrate how a simple drawing can communicate a complicated architectural idea.
This unique presentation method allowed us to engage with students in a novel way, forcing them to take a completely different perspective on architectural drawing and its impact on communication. For Claire and James, longtime ACE Mentor participants, they found the exercise helped them see drawing in a new light. It gave the whole team an opportunity to think through the best way to engage a remote audience using technology, while underscoring the necessity of drawing throughout the architectural process.
For Claire, education has always been a focus of her career, “So I try to find other ways, besides designing schools, to weave education into what I do with my career. I think ACE brings architecture and its related fields to schools that may not focus on it as much. Especially serving schools in Cleveland, we are focusing on developing skills that could lead to opportunities for underprivileged communities, leading to more diversity in the industry.”
Similarly, James learned about educational design through mentors involved in the ACE program. This led him to a love of this kind of design. “What’s funny is I didn’t know I would be as passionate about educational design until I got to TDA. They had a mentorship program through ACE and I started to learn more about them. Once I got here, I started understanding the impact within a community, and that’s something I wanted to be a part of. It’s very exciting to see the groundbreaking, then openings and kids running into a new school. You can see how it impacts someone’s life.”
We are committed to bringing a different perspective on architectural drawing, educational design and developing new ways to engage with communities on their projects. We look forward to providing new vantage points for the next round of high school students entering the AEC industry.
Sign up for the newsletter below to be informed when the full session is released!
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
A Different Perspective on Architectural Drawing – ACE Mentor ProgramThenDesign Architecture has proudly participated in the ACE Mentor Program for years. This year, we taught a session on the importance of communication through architectural drawing. In order to best engage high school students in a distanced format, the team needed to come up with a unique way to demonstrate these architectural conventions.
ThenDesign Architecture is a proud participant of the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland, Ohio. The ACE Mentor Program is an afterschool, educational program that exposes high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries. Partnering with schools across the United States, including the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, designers from TDA recently explained the importance of communication in our field. For this engagement session, Jeff Henderson, Claire Bank and James Cowan built a “super-sized” architectural canvas to emphasize why we need to take a different perspective on architectural drawing.
https://youtu.be/YqaenSgL79s
About the ACE Mentor Program
The ACE Mentor Program of America is an afterschool program which was crafted to attract high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries as well as the skilled trades. With over 70 affiliates across 37 states in the continental Unites States, the program is mostly based in metropolitan areas and allow students to explore different design projects in the industry.
The program brings together more than 4,100 professionals, high school teachers and students at events, with each one covering a different aspect of the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Trade professionals deliver educational sessions, engagement activities and take students on site visits to help them better understand how the built world is shaped. ACE also awards approximately $2.5 million annually in scholarships to those who are pursuing industry centered careers.
Interestingly, more than 70% of ACE seniors enter a skilled trade program or enter college with an industry-related major. According to ACE’s student surveys, the majority of students passing through the program felt motivated to attend college and picked up skills and knowledge that weren’t covered in their formal education.
At TDA, several of our designers, have participated in this important program. We have seen firsthand the difference it makes.
“Just as a writer uses words to create a verbal story, an architect uses drawings to tell a creative visual story.”
Jeff Henderson
Architect
A Different Perspective on Architectural Drawing
Jeff Henderson, a 12-year ACE mentor at John Hay High School in Cleveland, who presented this year’s session on drawing commented: “Architectural drawing is really about telling a story. It’s a story about a building. Just as a writer uses words to create a verbal story, an architect uses drawings to tell a creative visual story.” A foundational principle of architecture is that a designer must communicate their ideas to a client or other professional on a collaborative team. To be a leader in this industry, we must be able to communicate effectively.
For Jeff, the importance of drawing touches on three vital areas–learning, thinking and communicating. He states: “For me, drawing is a form of learning. When architects see a building or walk into a space, they suddenly shift into “architect mode” and they begin asking themselves questions. “Why does it look like that?” “Why did they use that material?” “How was that detailed?” It is said that inspiration comes from anywhere and that is absolutely true. So, we analyze good buildings and good spaces and record them through drawings and notes. The second part is that drawing is a form of thinking. It is in the process of drawing where you start to think about the design of a building and it becomes a process of testing, looking at different ideas and making decisions to move the design along. The third portion is that drawing is a vital tool for communication. The ability to clearly communicate designs, visually and verbally, to clients or stakeholders is crucial. That is probably the most important skill an architect can have.
“Behind the Scenes” Setup
As a firm dedicated to educational design, we continually think about unique ways to engage students, educators, and communities. While these sessions are normally conducted in person, during this time of distanced learning and remote workshops, the mentorship team devised a new way to communicate architectural drawing conventions.
They devised a setup that involved suspending a high-definition camera, with a wide angle lens 10′ in the air in our unfinished office building. Then we laid out (3) 4’x8′ sheets of wall board side by side creating a “life sized canvas” that was 12′ wide x 8′ high. The team then took turns sketching plans, sections, elevations, and perspectives on the sheets to demonstrate how designers use these different types of drawings to communicate their ideas.
In the presentation, Jeff used these examples to illustrate how a simple drawing can communicate a complicated architectural idea.
This unique presentation method allowed us to engage with students in a novel way, forcing them to take a completely different perspective on architectural drawing and its impact on communication. For Claire and James, longtime ACE Mentor participants, they found the exercise helped them see drawing in a new light. It gave the whole team an opportunity to think through the best way to engage a remote audience using technology, while underscoring the necessity of drawing throughout the architectural process.
For Claire, education has always been a focus of her career, “So I try to find other ways, besides designing schools, to weave education into what I do with my career. I think ACE brings architecture and its related fields to schools that may not focus on it as much. Especially serving schools in Cleveland, we are focusing on developing skills that could lead to opportunities for underprivileged communities, leading to more diversity in the industry.”
Similarly, James learned about educational design through mentors involved in the ACE program. This led him to a love of this kind of design. “What’s funny is I didn’t know I would be as passionate about educational design until I got to TDA. They had a mentorship program through ACE and I started to learn more about them. Once I got here, I started understanding the impact within a community, and that’s something I wanted to be a part of. It’s very exciting to see the groundbreaking, then openings and kids running into a new school. You can see how it impacts someone’s life.”
We are committed to bringing a different perspective on architectural drawing, educational design and developing new ways to engage with communities on their projects. We look forward to providing new vantage points for the next round of high school students entering the AEC industry.
Sign up for the newsletter below to be informed when the full session is released!
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
New Educational Wickliffe CampusWickliffe City Schools has been ambitiously planning the new educational Wickliffe Campus to house students in a Pre-K through 12th grade facility which will replace the aging city schools in their area. We are honored to present a video animation of the new facility, narrated by Wickliffe High School students.
Wickliffe City School District has been ambitiously planning the new educational Wickliffe Campus to house students in a Pre-K through 12th grade facility which will replace the aging city schools in their area. Engaging with the community, the district has been presenting their educational vision which seeks to address the challenges that students face, ensuring they receive the best educational opportunities possible.
Working together with Wickliffe City School District, we are honored to present a video animation of the new facility. Narrated by Wickliffe High School students, viewers can get an inside look at how the new facility will impact future attendees.
https://youtu.be/3T9NHT1dcPc
Education in Wickliffe, Ohio:
In a News Herald article in early 2020, Wickliffe School District Superintendent, Joseph Spiccia identified his “four E philosophy, Employed, Enrolled, Enlisted or an Entrepreneur” and focused on ensuring these are present in every graduating class. These beliefs are part of a larger motivation to build a future ready education model for all students going through Wickliffe Schools. He and Julie Ramos, the Director of Strategic Innovation, are driven to develop student outcome and seek to expand the format and educational opportunities in the district.
In 2019, voters approved a $60 million bond issue, which allows for the construction of a new pre-k through 12 educational campus which will serve as the single school building for the district. It will replace the aging elementary, middle and high schools. The two story, 204,000 SF building incorporates spaces that will greatly expand opportunities for the curriculum, provide students better collaborative spaces, flexible classrooms and athletic areas, adjacent to a new performing arts center that seats 500. In addition, the new facility allows expansion of the Family Resource Center, a community center that offers free services to many who are in need.
“We need to make sure the curriculum and the programs are broad enough to meet the needs of this diverse group of students.”
Joseph Spiccia
Wickliffe School District Superintendent
“Our priorities are to ensure our students are future ready,” states Superintendent Joe Spiccia. “We need to make sure the curriculum and the programs are broad enough to meet the needs of this diverse group of students. Another priority is to create a culture and environment that takes great advantage of the wonderful tradition of the community yet moves the community forward progressively.”
Project Renderings:
Construction is slated to begin in late spring of 2021 and will take around 2 years to construct. The new facility is scheduled to open for the start of the 2023-2024 school year. We appreciate the opportunity to work with districts to realize their educational goals and develop spaces, such as the new educational Wickliffe Campus which will serve students for decades to come.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
New Educational Wickliffe CampusWickliffe City Schools has been ambitiously planning the new educational Wickliffe Campus to house students in a Pre-K through 12th grade facility which will replace the aging city schools in their area. We are honored to present a video animation of the new facility, narrated by Wickliffe High School students.
Wickliffe City School District has been ambitiously planning the new educational Wickliffe Campus to house students in a Pre-K through 12th grade facility which will replace the aging city schools in their area. Engaging with the community, the district has been presenting their educational vision which seeks to address the challenges that students face, ensuring they receive the best educational opportunities possible.
Working together with Wickliffe City School District, we are honored to present a video animation of the new facility. Narrated by Wickliffe High School students, viewers can get an inside look at how the new facility will impact future attendees.
https://youtu.be/3T9NHT1dcPc
Education in Wickliffe, Ohio:
In a News Herald article in early 2020, Wickliffe School District Superintendent, Joseph Spiccia identified his “four E philosophy, Employed, Enrolled, Enlisted or an Entrepreneur” and focused on ensuring these are present in every graduating class. These beliefs are part of a larger motivation to build a future ready education model for all students going through Wickliffe Schools. He and Julie Ramos, the Director of Strategic Innovation, are driven to develop student outcome and seek to expand the format and educational opportunities in the district.
In 2019, voters approved a $60 million bond issue, which allows for the construction of a new pre-k through 12 educational campus which will serve as the single school building for the district. It will replace the aging elementary, middle and high schools. The two story, 204,000 SF building incorporates spaces that will greatly expand opportunities for the curriculum, provide students better collaborative spaces, flexible classrooms and athletic areas, adjacent to a new performing arts center that seats 500. In addition, the new facility allows expansion of the Family Resource Center, a community center that offers free services to many who are in need.
“We need to make sure the curriculum and the programs are broad enough to meet the needs of this diverse group of students.”
Joseph Spiccia
Wickliffe School District Superintendent
“Our priorities are to ensure our students are future ready,” states Superintendent Joe Spiccia. “We need to make sure the curriculum and the programs are broad enough to meet the needs of this diverse group of students. Another priority is to create a culture and environment that takes great advantage of the wonderful tradition of the community yet moves the community forward progressively.”
Project Renderings:
Construction is slated to begin in late spring of 2021 and will take around 2 years to construct. The new facility is scheduled to open for the start of the 2023-2024 school year. We appreciate the opportunity to work with districts to realize their educational goals and develop spaces, such as the new educational Wickliffe Campus which will serve students for decades to come.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Memorial Junior High School – Evolution of an Historic BuildingHistoric buildings often have very storied pasts. What might have started as one type of building may eventually evolve into something very different. When dealing with these structures, architects can find imaginative and creative ways to repurpose them. Memorial Junior High School in Willoughby, Ohio is one example of the evolution of an historic building.
Space to Work, Collaborate, Mentor and Lead
Memorial Junior High School in downtown Willoughby is the future home of ThenDesign Architecture. We are rehabilitating this structure, modernizing the spaces and technology, restoring damaged surfaces and finishes, intending to move our offices here and experiencing firsthand the evolution of an historic building.
Public architecture is rich with opportunities to collaborate with stakeholders. At the start of most of our projects, we advocate for “Educational Visioning Sessions.” These collaborative events bring together a variety of stakeholders including, educators, students, administrators from the school district, architects and the community to imagine what their new building could be. To kick off our own rehabilitation project, we did the same.
The Historic 1923 Building
According to the initial plans of Memorial Junior High School drafted in 1923 by architect Franz C. Warner, a popular educational designer in Cleveland, the building was relatively simple in design. This 2-story symmetrical building resembles an arrow in its floor plan. Four classrooms are located on the first floor, one being a “Domestic Science,” space, another dedicated for “Manual Training” and another 2 generic rooms were situated at the front of the building. These rooms were all connected by a corridor which led to the boys and girl’s locker rooms, along with the main gym. Through the years, this gym served as a lunchroom, a large gathering space and athletic space. The second floor largely replicated the first, with 4 classrooms, a small library and space for additional student lockers.
Future additions were designed at the ends of the building, but these were never completed in the original structure.
Since beginning the project, we have received dozens of stories from people in the community who recount stories of their time in this building. The school made an impact in the lives of the students who traversed its halls, first as a Junior High School, then a high school annex and finally a career center.
With that in mind, great care was taken to preserve this local landmark in Willoughby, as the historic building goes through its next evolution in our area.
Staff Visioning
In 2017, TDA conducted a visioning session with our staff to identify the best ways to utilize the new space. Held at the Paradigm Center, a professional development center at Mentor Public Schools, key design team members prepared presentations and activities to engage the staff on how we can use our new building. This opportunity allowed us to put our “visioning sessions” into practice in a personal way. The day long activity engaged our staff to identify the challenges and opportunities in the new space.
We engaged our staff with a variety of questions, like “How do we want to gather?” “How do we want to share?,” “How do we want to communicate?,” How do we want to produce?,” “How do we want to focus?” and “How do we want to organize?” All this was to draw out feedback on how the new space could be used as a modern architectural office.
Throughout the day, we created lists of existing challenges, needs and requests. Then as an exercise, drew solutions on site and floor plans to address these points.
While we may never get the jacuzzi, on staff chef, weekly DJ, fireplaces, video games or a bank of lava lamps but it never hurts to dream.
However, a key question in engagement was “How do we want to work?.” This question touched on many aspects of the interior of the space and three key points became apparent.
Identifying Building Challenges
First, redesigning the building to support flexible spaces was key. Our design teams work on a variety of projects and each has their own schedules, needs, meetings and stakeholders. So, having a building layout that supports spontaneous meetings and demonstrations was important. Many designers appreciated their dedicated workspaces, but in collaborative design, there isn’t always a need for privacy. So, to support this, we created a variety of spaces that could be used for private individual work or repurposed for open team meetings.
Second, technology plays a huge role in our architectural efforts. Computer infrastructure stores CAD drawings, project imagery and administrative documents which need to be accessible at all times. High powered computers render animations, exporting video productions and graphical presentations. These need to be accessed both locally and remotely. With this in mind, preparing a building that was designed circa 1923, to accept all the modern, internet connected devices is a huge challenge. Since faster and more comprehensive technology was needed, extra time was spent developing a connectivity plan. Ethernet cable runs, the number and placement of Wi-Fi hotspots, conference room connectivity and signal transmission through old construction materials was closely considered. Seamlessly retrofitting technology in the school was a big part of the project and these needs certainly weren’t considered in the 20’s when the building was constructed.
Third, even though the architecture industry is moving towards being paperless, modern architects still have to print and lay out large format multipage documents for review. We still have a large need for storage and spaces to layout these documents and mark them up. (Anyone who has seen our current space understands how important that is!) In addition to this, over half of our staff wanted to find ways to move around during the day. Anyone working in a modern office can attest to fatigue from sitting all day. In order to satisfy this, the over 20,000 sqft building allows for large areas for document review, outdoor spaces, stairs for exercise, a materials library and plenty of open space in the studio allows designers to move freely, reviewing hardcopy work in designated areas while focusing on digital work at their desks.
Having identified the challenges with our current space, we could better understand how to respond to the changing nature of architectural work in our new office.
The Evolution of an Historic Building
In order to incorporate these challenges and opportunities, we developed interior spaces to satisfy each need.
Reception: The new entryway is designed to display a modern space to greet clients and showcase our work. Adjacent to it is a proper mail room for incoming and outgoing drawings and communications. With over a dozen projects running concurrently, we regularly send document packages, RFQ’s, printed boards and other time sensitive materials. Dedicated spaces for these two functions makes for a much better first impression!
Architectural Studio: The largest space in the building is designed as an architectural studio. Located in the former gymnasium, we removed a large portion of the ceiling, making it a 2-story space and allowing for visual connection between the two floors. It is where the majority of architects, interior designers and planners have their desk spaces. It can be creatively reconfigured to accommodate either social distancing or to fit a more employees as needs dictate.
Mezzanine: On the second floor, it hosts additional designers along with separate work areas or “caves” located at the back of the space. Designed with private work in mind, they provide a flexible space for conference calls or where isolation and focus is required.
Flex Café: This large space is the result of combining two historic classrooms together. This flexible open area allows staff to gather as a creative team in discussions, design charrettes, large scale teaching activities or areas for team meetings, demonstrations and training. It also provides a different venue for a flexible work area to move around, when you need to get away from your desk.
Kaehr Conference Room: This conference room is our largest and where client meetings and conference calls are held. Located on the front of the building, this technologically advanced room is equipped with the A/V gear needed to broadcast our larger internal teams and connect them to our clients offsite.
While these plans may evolve in terms of color or texture up until we move in, these spaces depict how the Memorial Junior High School continues to show the evolution of an historic building. We look forward to moving into the space showing its completion next year.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Memorial Junior High School – Evolution of an Historic BuildingHistoric buildings often have very storied pasts. What might have started as one type of building may eventually evolve into something very different. When dealing with these structures, architects can find imaginative and creative ways to repurpose them. Memorial Junior High School in Willoughby, Ohio is one example of the evolution of an historic building.
Space to Work, Collaborate, Mentor and Lead
Memorial Junior High School in downtown Willoughby is the future home of ThenDesign Architecture. We are rehabilitating this structure, modernizing the spaces and technology, restoring damaged surfaces and finishes, intending to move our offices here and experiencing firsthand the evolution of an historic building.
Public architecture is rich with opportunities to collaborate with stakeholders. At the start of most of our projects, we advocate for “Educational Visioning Sessions.” These collaborative events bring together a variety of stakeholders including, educators, students, administrators from the school district, architects and the community to imagine what their new building could be. To kick off our own rehabilitation project, we did the same.
The Historic 1923 Building
According to the initial plans of Memorial Junior High School drafted in 1923 by architect Franz C. Warner, a popular educational designer in Cleveland, the building was relatively simple in design. This 2-story symmetrical building resembles an arrow in its floor plan. Four classrooms are located on the first floor, one being a “Domestic Science,” space, another dedicated for “Manual Training” and another 2 generic rooms were situated at the front of the building. These rooms were all connected by a corridor which led to the boys and girl’s locker rooms, along with the main gym. Through the years, this gym served as a lunchroom, a large gathering space and athletic space. The second floor largely replicated the first, with 4 classrooms, a small library and space for additional student lockers.
Future additions were designed at the ends of the building, but these were never completed in the original structure.
Since beginning the project, we have received dozens of stories from people in the community who recount stories of their time in this building. The school made an impact in the lives of the students who traversed its halls, first as a Junior High School, then a high school annex and finally a career center.
With that in mind, great care was taken to preserve this local landmark in Willoughby, as the historic building goes through its next evolution in our area.
Staff Visioning
In 2017, TDA conducted a visioning session with our staff to identify the best ways to utilize the new space. Held at the Paradigm Center, a professional development center at Mentor Public Schools, key design team members prepared presentations and activities to engage the staff on how we can use our new building. This opportunity allowed us to put our “visioning sessions” into practice in a personal way. The day long activity engaged our staff to identify the challenges and opportunities in the new space.
We engaged our staff with a variety of questions, like “How do we want to gather?” “How do we want to share?,” “How do we want to communicate?,” How do we want to produce?,” “How do we want to focus?” and “How do we want to organize?” All this was to draw out feedback on how the new space could be used as a modern architectural office.
Throughout the day, we created lists of existing challenges, needs and requests. Then as an exercise, drew solutions on site and floor plans to address these points.
While we may never get the jacuzzi, on staff chef, weekly DJ, fireplaces, video games or a bank of lava lamps but it never hurts to dream.
However, a key question in engagement was “How do we want to work?.” This question touched on many aspects of the interior of the space and three key points became apparent.
Identifying Building Challenges
First, redesigning the building to support flexible spaces was key. Our design teams work on a variety of projects and each has their own schedules, needs, meetings and stakeholders. So, having a building layout that supports spontaneous meetings and demonstrations was important. Many designers appreciated their dedicated workspaces, but in collaborative design, there isn’t always a need for privacy. So, to support this, we created a variety of spaces that could be used for private individual work or repurposed for open team meetings.
Second, technology plays a huge role in our architectural efforts. Computer infrastructure stores CAD drawings, project imagery and administrative documents which need to be accessible at all times. High powered computers render animations, exporting video productions and graphical presentations. These need to be accessed both locally and remotely. With this in mind, preparing a building that was designed circa 1923, to accept all the modern, internet connected devices is a huge challenge. Since faster and more comprehensive technology was needed, extra time was spent developing a connectivity plan. Ethernet cable runs, the number and placement of Wi-Fi hotspots, conference room connectivity and signal transmission through old construction materials was closely considered. Seamlessly retrofitting technology in the school was a big part of the project and these needs certainly weren’t considered in the 20’s when the building was constructed.
Third, even though the architecture industry is moving towards being paperless, modern architects still have to print and lay out large format multipage documents for review. We still have a large need for storage and spaces to layout these documents and mark them up. (Anyone who has seen our current space understands how important that is!) In addition to this, over half of our staff wanted to find ways to move around during the day. Anyone working in a modern office can attest to fatigue from sitting all day. In order to satisfy this, the over 20,000 sqft building allows for large areas for document review, outdoor spaces, stairs for exercise, a materials library and plenty of open space in the studio allows designers to move freely, reviewing hardcopy work in designated areas while focusing on digital work at their desks.
Having identified the challenges with our current space, we could better understand how to respond to the changing nature of architectural work in our new office.
The Evolution of an Historic Building
In order to incorporate these challenges and opportunities, we developed interior spaces to satisfy each need.
Reception: The new entryway is designed to display a modern space to greet clients and showcase our work. Adjacent to it is a proper mail room for incoming and outgoing drawings and communications. With over a dozen projects running concurrently, we regularly send document packages, RFQ’s, printed boards and other time sensitive materials. Dedicated spaces for these two functions makes for a much better first impression!
Architectural Studio: The largest space in the building is designed as an architectural studio. Located in the former gymnasium, we removed a large portion of the ceiling, making it a 2-story space and allowing for visual connection between the two floors. It is where the majority of architects, interior designers and planners have their desk spaces. It can be creatively reconfigured to accommodate either social distancing or to fit a more employees as needs dictate.
Mezzanine: On the second floor, it hosts additional designers along with separate work areas or “caves” located at the back of the space. Designed with private work in mind, they provide a flexible space for conference calls or where isolation and focus is required.
Flex Café: This large space is the result of combining two historic classrooms together. This flexible open area allows staff to gather as a creative team in discussions, design charrettes, large scale teaching activities or areas for team meetings, demonstrations and training. It also provides a different venue for a flexible work area to move around, when you need to get away from your desk.
Kaehr Conference Room: This conference room is our largest and where client meetings and conference calls are held. Located on the front of the building, this technologically advanced room is equipped with the A/V gear needed to broadcast our larger internal teams and connect them to our clients offsite.
While these plans may evolve in terms of color or texture up until we move in, these spaces depict how the Memorial Junior High School continues to show the evolution of an historic building. We look forward to moving into the space showing its completion next year.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” – Imagining Better Ways to EducateEducational Visioning Sessions are collaborative planning events, that allow architects, educators and students to ensure a future school construction project is successful. Working together, they identify goals, priorities and design solutions from a wide variety of perspectives. A robust Educational Visioning session encourages attendees to imagine better ways to educate generations of students through good design.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” are collaborative events that allow architects, school districts and the community to imagine all the ways a new school facility can provide better student opportunities. Early in the design process, they establish project goals, design challenges and priorities, along with introducing the architects and solidify relationships between stakeholders. It also provides a glimpse into how these new spaces will further the school district’s curriculum. During Educational Visioning Sessions, we are free to think openly, unencumbered with budget numbers, square footage totals and headcounts. We can imagine how this new building will positively affect our district, our educators, and the future of our community.
Facility Design – A Big Decision
According to the 2020 Facilities & Construction Brief by Spaces4Learning, educational spending has continually increased since 2013. As of 2019, the United States spends $98 billion dollars on educational construction projects annually. As the US population increases, so does the need for schools, colleges and research institutions. With the educational landscape shifting rapidly over the last several years due to technology changes, updated facilities are a necessity, attracting the best students and educators. Even though capital investment has generally increased, facilities’ needs have outpaced funding. The project backlog is unending and makes relationships between educational institutions and the AEC industry more important than ever.
While the decision to begin a new school construction project (including renovations to existing buildings) is thrilling, it is also incredibly stressful. Often years of preparation go into it, with dozens of people involved. Steps such as securing funding, passing bond issues, levies, existing facility assessments and master planning all lead up to the decision to build a new school. Since all budgets are limited, it’s necessary for every dollar spent to bring the maximum return for each district.
“Problem Seeking”
Abby Raineri, a lead designer at TDA regularly engages with districts and architects early in the design process. She is familiar with seeking out the needs of each district.
“Many times, our clients come to us, not even knowing what to ask for. So that leads us to help them discover what they need and what to ask for. We call it “problem seeking.” It’s a lot of listening, data collecting, assessing a facility, and trying to figure out the problems they are trying to solve. We encourage conversations and explore multiple solutions with the goal of putting projects on an overall path to success. A lot of the biggest things we need to grapple with as we move into programming and schematic design, are established in early planning conversations about the project. It sets the tone for the rest of the design process.”
If communication between the district, community and architect aren’t realized, then the project is primed for failure. These relationships drive a projects success. By getting a wide variety of perspectives and identifying any roadblocks early on, it ensures the new school satisfies both the present and future needs of the community.
Educational Visioning Sessions
Early phases of design include an Educational Visioning Session. These unique events bring teachers, students, administrators, board members, local safety forces, community members and clergy together to discuss the project and ultimately serve as the genesis of the design. It’s not uncommon to have over 100 people in attendance taking part in these initial conversations. Ideas for the future building generated by participants are shared in round-table discussions and other interactive group activities. Grassroots ideas from those who will use the new structure are distilled and streamed into future plans. This is a time for architects to listen and capture the concerns and goals from these groups that will inform our design process.
They are a collaborative activity that results in a comprehensive planning tool for an educational institution. This session, often scheduled for the project kickoff, runs concurrently with the programming phase, usually long before we are thinking about the building’s shape. Everything is thrown against the wall (before we have designed walls to throw things at).
While all Educational Visioning Sessions are uniquely tailored to our clients, they can range from a few hours or last an entire day, depending on needs. They include presentations from the design team on the current state of education, the district’s desired curriculum, the current facilities and their limitations and cover plans for the future facility. The team presents case studies for how similar districts have handled facility upgrades, before we break out into small group discussions and other hands-on activities. These activities are designed to capture unique ideas for design solutions and get a sense of the visual direction for the project.
While our current circumstances don’t allow us to meet in large groups in the same way, we have a fully staffed communications department that enables us to perform these engagement sessions through staff polling, video production and other digital feedback activities.
This collaboration is why districts return to us again and again to provide architectural and planning services. We listen to our client’s needs and empower them to drive the initial designs and produce a completely unique building. This diversity of input is a hallmark of our design strategy and one element that strengthens our portfolio.
“Many times, our clients come to us, not even knowing what to ask for. So that leads us to help them discover what they need and what to ask for. We call it “problems seeking.”
ABBY RAINERI
Registered Architect
Continuing Education
Engagement doesn’t stop at the Visioning Sessions early in the project but continues throughout the design process. During the planning and construction phases of design, TDA engages educators in training sessions as the project’s completion approaches. At these events, project designers, along with future occupants, attend a series of meetings dedicated to coaching and professional development. These sessions also include, brainstorming activities and interactive projects, that are geared towards training educators and administrators on ways to engage students in their new building. They are invaluable for collaboratively rethinking the way educational spaces can be used to promote student learning. This crucial component is a link between the early Educational Visioning Sessions and a fully occupied building.
Abby notes the importance of continually mining feedback from stakeholders. “Early on during the “programming phase” of building design, we move into engagement and work sessions. Our “Educational Visioning Sessions,” are a piece of this, along with staff engagement. We take different user groups or a core team on tours of new buildings, so they can see how other districts have solved space problems. In this initial concept phase, we are getting further into planning and feedback. After that, we begin the traditional kind of architectural process of making diagrams and drawing plan iterations, then continue engagement with the community, the board and the staff.”
Then, through exit interviews and teacher surveys, we measure how these architectural designs impact the education experience. We have found significant benefits such as reduced behavioral issues in the classroom, increased teaching time, and additional opportunities for student collaboration. All of these ensure that each student receives the best education possible.
We encourage student engagement throughout the process and have led student oriented charettes allowing them to help design new playgrounds, walk the construction site for facility updates and take an active role in construction by placing stones in a structure’s foundation before the floor slab is poured or by signing their names on beams before installation.
In addition, we hold community meetings during Schematic Design and Design Development to update the public on the building layout, getting their feedback on how the exterior of the building develops. We believe that professional educators should influence the design of the interior of the building and the community determines the exterior aesthetic. We have developed a number of interactive exercises to gauge what aesthetic the community feels most strongly about.
In short, we intentionally emphasize the needs of people and their experience as much as the building itself.
“So, it was a process of even delineating which goals were important to them or not. The architect shouldn’t necessarily drive the stakeholder’s goals. It’s their building, so they need to tell us what’s important.”
ED SHEARSON
Registered Architect
Ideas Come from Anywhere
We find that great ideas often come from very unconventional places. Chris Smith, TDA’s president recalled an instance where ideas on school security came from a third-grade student. He recounts: “We believe good ideas can come from anywhere and that means from anybody…We’ve had the strangest ideas come from the coolest places. When we were investigating school security and the potential of armed intruders, we were on the forefront of designing those guidelines. We actually got an idea from a young student in one of our collaborative processes and our Educational Visioning Sessions. They came up with an idea to color code the building so that if there was an intruder in their elementary school, they could say “the bad person is in the red part of the building or the blue part of the building.” That led to some very intuitive design standards that are still enforced today and it came from a third-grade student. So, the educational design process with school buildings in general is a very collaborative process, not only collaborative with our own designers but with the public at large.”
In another instance on the recently opened Garrett Morgan High School, the idea to split the building into two sections [public and school related functions] with a connecting bridge, came from a councilman involved at an educational visioning session. Jeff Henderson, a lead architect on the project mentioned: “We were on a very urban, commercial street, Detroit Ave. There was a desire not to have parking along the street, but still keep the front entrance there. That would force occupants to park on the opposite side of the site and walk all the way around the building. The councilman that was involved says, “I don’t want anybody to have to walk around the building, I want them to walk to the front door, which wants to be on Detroit Ave.” So that comment in part, resulted in the solution where we fractured the building into 2 sections and put a bridge on the second floor. This allowed everybody to circulate right from the parking lot, underneath the building and into the front door. So that was a big design challenge that was addressed in a collaborative session.”
Ed Shearson, who served as Project Manager on that building recalled: “There was a large stakeholder meeting early on in the project and it involved representatives from Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the City of Cleveland, Gordon Square Planning Commission and local residents. We developed an inventory of goals for the site and they voted on that. Just because the architect notes a goal, that doesn’t mean it’s a goal the stakeholders share. So, it was a process of even delineating which goals were important to them or not. The architect shouldn’t necessarily drive the stakeholder’s goals. It’s their building, so they need to tell us what’s important.”
We believe that this collaboration and relationship building makes our process unique and successful. Educational Visioning Sessions establish a clear vision forward and how a district can use their new building to benefit students. It is an opportunity to build trust, develop support and champions for the project and incorporate the needs of the stakeholders into the finished building.
Key Takeaways
Relationships and communication (especially early on) are crucial to identifying design problems and implementing solutions.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” are key to brainstorming how a new building project will impact the community. This is also a time to talk through the district’s goals for implementing the curriculum in their new spaces.
By engaging in a variety of interactive activities, among various stakeholders, we can ensure everyone’s voice is heard and the concerns are prioritized.
Educators should take part in these important sessions. It allows them to provide direct input on future designs of their new building. They can also see how new spaces could be used to enhance their education plans.
Interesting design ideas can come from anyone, not just professional designers. By including a wide variety of stakeholders, (students, administrators, parents, and community members) these sessions grant additional perspectives on large projects and ensures the final designs are tailored to that community.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” – Imagining Better Ways to EducateEducational Visioning Sessions are collaborative planning events, that allow architects, educators and students to ensure a future school construction project is successful. Working together, they identify goals, priorities and design solutions from a wide variety of perspectives. A robust Educational Visioning session encourages attendees to imagine better ways to educate generations of students through good design.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” are collaborative events that allow architects, school districts and the community to imagine all the ways a new school facility can provide better student opportunities. Early in the design process, they establish project goals, design challenges and priorities, along with introducing the architects and solidify relationships between stakeholders. It also provides a glimpse into how these new spaces will further the school district’s curriculum. During Educational Visioning Sessions, we are free to think openly, unencumbered with budget numbers, square footage totals and headcounts. We can imagine how this new building will positively affect our district, our educators, and the future of our community.
Facility Design – A Big Decision
According to the 2020 Facilities & Construction Brief by Spaces4Learning, educational spending has continually increased since 2013. As of 2019, the United States spends $98 billion dollars on educational construction projects annually. As the US population increases, so does the need for schools, colleges and research institutions. With the educational landscape shifting rapidly over the last several years due to technology changes, updated facilities are a necessity, attracting the best students and educators. Even though capital investment has generally increased, facilities’ needs have outpaced funding. The project backlog is unending and makes relationships between educational institutions and the AEC industry more important than ever.
While the decision to begin a new school construction project (including renovations to existing buildings) is thrilling, it is also incredibly stressful. Often years of preparation go into it, with dozens of people involved. Steps such as securing funding, passing bond issues, levies, existing facility assessments and master planning all lead up to the decision to build a new school. Since all budgets are limited, it’s necessary for every dollar spent to bring the maximum return for each district.
“Problem Seeking”
Abby Raineri, a lead designer at TDA regularly engages with districts and architects early in the design process. She is familiar with seeking out the needs of each district.
“Many times, our clients come to us, not even knowing what to ask for. So that leads us to help them discover what they need and what to ask for. We call it “problem seeking.” It’s a lot of listening, data collecting, assessing a facility, and trying to figure out the problems they are trying to solve. We encourage conversations and explore multiple solutions with the goal of putting projects on an overall path to success. A lot of the biggest things we need to grapple with as we move into programming and schematic design, are established in early planning conversations about the project. It sets the tone for the rest of the design process.”
If communication between the district, community and architect aren’t realized, then the project is primed for failure. These relationships drive a projects success. By getting a wide variety of perspectives and identifying any roadblocks early on, it ensures the new school satisfies both the present and future needs of the community.
Educational Visioning Sessions
Early phases of design include an Educational Visioning Session. These unique events bring teachers, students, administrators, board members, local safety forces, community members and clergy together to discuss the project and ultimately serve as the genesis of the design. It’s not uncommon to have over 100 people in attendance taking part in these initial conversations. Ideas for the future building generated by participants are shared in round-table discussions and other interactive group activities. Grassroots ideas from those who will use the new structure are distilled and streamed into future plans. This is a time for architects to listen and capture the concerns and goals from these groups that will inform our design process.
They are a collaborative activity that results in a comprehensive planning tool for an educational institution. This session, often scheduled for the project kickoff, runs concurrently with the programming phase, usually long before we are thinking about the building’s shape. Everything is thrown against the wall (before we have designed walls to throw things at).
While all Educational Visioning Sessions are uniquely tailored to our clients, they can range from a few hours or last an entire day, depending on needs. They include presentations from the design team on the current state of education, the district’s desired curriculum, the current facilities and their limitations and cover plans for the future facility. The team presents case studies for how similar districts have handled facility upgrades, before we break out into small group discussions and other hands-on activities. These activities are designed to capture unique ideas for design solutions and get a sense of the visual direction for the project.
While our current circumstances don’t allow us to meet in large groups in the same way, we have a fully staffed communications department that enables us to perform these engagement sessions through staff polling, video production and other digital feedback activities.
This collaboration is why districts return to us again and again to provide architectural and planning services. We listen to our client’s needs and empower them to drive the initial designs and produce a completely unique building. This diversity of input is a hallmark of our design strategy and one element that strengthens our portfolio.
“Many times, our clients come to us, not even knowing what to ask for. So that leads us to help them discover what they need and what to ask for. We call it “problems seeking.”
ABBY RAINERI
Registered Architect
Continuing Education
Engagement doesn’t stop at the Visioning Sessions early in the project but continues throughout the design process. During the planning and construction phases of design, TDA engages educators in training sessions as the project’s completion approaches. At these events, project designers, along with future occupants, attend a series of meetings dedicated to coaching and professional development. These sessions also include, brainstorming activities and interactive projects, that are geared towards training educators and administrators on ways to engage students in their new building. They are invaluable for collaboratively rethinking the way educational spaces can be used to promote student learning. This crucial component is a link between the early Educational Visioning Sessions and a fully occupied building.
Abby notes the importance of continually mining feedback from stakeholders. “Early on during the “programming phase” of building design, we move into engagement and work sessions. Our “Educational Visioning Sessions,” are a piece of this, along with staff engagement. We take different user groups or a core team on tours of new buildings, so they can see how other districts have solved space problems. In this initial concept phase, we are getting further into planning and feedback. After that, we begin the traditional kind of architectural process of making diagrams and drawing plan iterations, then continue engagement with the community, the board and the staff.”
Then, through exit interviews and teacher surveys, we measure how these architectural designs impact the education experience. We have found significant benefits such as reduced behavioral issues in the classroom, increased teaching time, and additional opportunities for student collaboration. All of these ensure that each student receives the best education possible.
We encourage student engagement throughout the process and have led student oriented charettes allowing them to help design new playgrounds, walk the construction site for facility updates and take an active role in construction by placing stones in a structure’s foundation before the floor slab is poured or by signing their names on beams before installation.
In addition, we hold community meetings during Schematic Design and Design Development to update the public on the building layout, getting their feedback on how the exterior of the building develops. We believe that professional educators should influence the design of the interior of the building and the community determines the exterior aesthetic. We have developed a number of interactive exercises to gauge what aesthetic the community feels most strongly about.
In short, we intentionally emphasize the needs of people and their experience as much as the building itself.
“So, it was a process of even delineating which goals were important to them or not. The architect shouldn’t necessarily drive the stakeholder’s goals. It’s their building, so they need to tell us what’s important.”
ED SHEARSON
Registered Architect
Ideas Come from Anywhere
We find that great ideas often come from very unconventional places. Chris Smith, TDA’s president recalled an instance where ideas on school security came from a third-grade student. He recounts: “We believe good ideas can come from anywhere and that means from anybody…We’ve had the strangest ideas come from the coolest places. When we were investigating school security and the potential of armed intruders, we were on the forefront of designing those guidelines. We actually got an idea from a young student in one of our collaborative processes and our Educational Visioning Sessions. They came up with an idea to color code the building so that if there was an intruder in their elementary school, they could say “the bad person is in the red part of the building or the blue part of the building.” That led to some very intuitive design standards that are still enforced today and it came from a third-grade student. So, the educational design process with school buildings in general is a very collaborative process, not only collaborative with our own designers but with the public at large.”
In another instance on the recently opened Garrett Morgan High School, the idea to split the building into two sections [public and school related functions] with a connecting bridge, came from a councilman involved at an educational visioning session. Jeff Henderson, a lead architect on the project mentioned: “We were on a very urban, commercial street, Detroit Ave. There was a desire not to have parking along the street, but still keep the front entrance there. That would force occupants to park on the opposite side of the site and walk all the way around the building. The councilman that was involved says, “I don’t want anybody to have to walk around the building, I want them to walk to the front door, which wants to be on Detroit Ave.” So that comment in part, resulted in the solution where we fractured the building into 2 sections and put a bridge on the second floor. This allowed everybody to circulate right from the parking lot, underneath the building and into the front door. So that was a big design challenge that was addressed in a collaborative session.”
Ed Shearson, who served as Project Manager on that building recalled: “There was a large stakeholder meeting early on in the project and it involved representatives from Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the City of Cleveland, Gordon Square Planning Commission and local residents. We developed an inventory of goals for the site and they voted on that. Just because the architect notes a goal, that doesn’t mean it’s a goal the stakeholders share. So, it was a process of even delineating which goals were important to them or not. The architect shouldn’t necessarily drive the stakeholder’s goals. It’s their building, so they need to tell us what’s important.”
We believe that this collaboration and relationship building makes our process unique and successful. Educational Visioning Sessions establish a clear vision forward and how a district can use their new building to benefit students. It is an opportunity to build trust, develop support and champions for the project and incorporate the needs of the stakeholders into the finished building.
Key Takeaways
Relationships and communication (especially early on) are crucial to identifying design problems and implementing solutions.
“Educational Visioning Sessions” are key to brainstorming how a new building project will impact the community. This is also a time to talk through the district’s goals for implementing the curriculum in their new spaces.
By engaging in a variety of interactive activities, among various stakeholders, we can ensure everyone’s voice is heard and the concerns are prioritized.
Educators should take part in these important sessions. It allows them to provide direct input on future designs of their new building. They can also see how new spaces could be used to enhance their education plans.
Interesting design ideas can come from anyone, not just professional designers. By including a wide variety of stakeholders, (students, administrators, parents, and community members) these sessions grant additional perspectives on large projects and ensures the final designs are tailored to that community.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Memorial Junior High School ProjectThenDesign Architecture is taking on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School. It will become the home for our new offices. This historic building has stood in the community for almost 100 years. In order to maintain the unique historic nature of Willoughby, TDA decided to repurpose this old school building instead of demolishing it. We invite you to view the progress.
ThenDesign Architecture is excited to undertake the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School.
Willoughby Ohio has rich historic roots. Structures downtown date back to the 1800’s with many members of the community being life-long residents.
ThenDesign Architecture (TDA), has operated out of Willoughby Ohio for the past 68 years. Located in the Carrel building downtown, TDA is a leader in K-12 school design, having partnered with over 120 districts throughout Ohio. We specialize in architecture, planning and interior design.
Our two partners, Bob Fiala and Chris Smith, have assembled a group of 50 creatives across 7 countries.
In order to maintain the unique historic nature of the city, TDA took on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School. This historic building has stood in the community for almost 100 years. Rather than demolish it, TDA, decided to repurpose this old school building. Ultimately it will become the future home of ThenDesign Architecture.
The 24,000 sqft renovated building houses a 2 story architecture studio for designers working on school and other public buildings.
Currently, site work is being done to accommodate staff and visitor parking at the rear of the building. An effort was made to keep this area pedestrian friendly to better connect it to the downtown Willoughby environment.
New windows were installed to maximize light entering the building and restore the façade in its original design.
Interior structural elements and historic details are being left exposed, so the office can exist as a living museum, showcasing current and historic architectural trends. Gypsum walls only extend 8’ exposing the upper walls and ceiling. This allows occupants to make a visual connection to the systems that make up the building.
Iconic details were maintained throughout the school. New windows that replicate the original look were installed. Some lockers were left in the entryway to harken back to the original use and textured masonry will be left exposed in various places throughout the building.
New sidewalks were installed to beautify the site and allow for better pedestrian use. Future areas for landscaping are being planned that take into account views to Wes Point Park.
Site work includes clearing old sidewalks and debris so new stairs and paths can be installed.
TDA is excited work on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School as a place where the future of education can be shaped.
Memorial Junior High School ProjectThenDesign Architecture is taking on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School. It will become the home for our new offices. This historic building has stood in the community for almost 100 years. In order to maintain the unique historic nature of Willoughby, TDA decided to repurpose this old school building instead of demolishing it. We invite you to view the progress.
ThenDesign Architecture is excited to undertake the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School.
Willoughby Ohio has rich historic roots. Structures downtown date back to the 1800’s with many members of the community being life-long residents.
ThenDesign Architecture (TDA), has operated out of Willoughby Ohio for the past 68 years. Located in the Carrel building downtown, TDA is a leader in K-12 school design, having partnered with over 120 districts throughout Ohio. We specialize in architecture, planning and interior design.
Our two partners, Bob Fiala and Chris Smith, have assembled a group of 50 creatives across 7 countries.
In order to maintain the unique historic nature of the city, TDA took on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School. This historic building has stood in the community for almost 100 years. Rather than demolish it, TDA, decided to repurpose this old school building. Ultimately it will become the future home of ThenDesign Architecture.
The 24,000 sqft renovated building houses a 2 story architecture studio for designers working on school and other public buildings.
Currently, site work is being done to accommodate staff and visitor parking at the rear of the building. An effort was made to keep this area pedestrian friendly to better connect it to the downtown Willoughby environment.
New windows were installed to maximize light entering the building and restore the façade in its original design.
Interior structural elements and historic details are being left exposed, so the office can exist as a living museum, showcasing current and historic architectural trends. Gypsum walls only extend 8’ exposing the upper walls and ceiling. This allows occupants to make a visual connection to the systems that make up the building.
Iconic details were maintained throughout the school. New windows that replicate the original look were installed. Some lockers were left in the entryway to harken back to the original use and textured masonry will be left exposed in various places throughout the building.
New sidewalks were installed to beautify the site and allow for better pedestrian use. Future areas for landscaping are being planned that take into account views to Wes Point Park.
Site work includes clearing old sidewalks and debris so new stairs and paths can be installed.
TDA is excited work on the project to reimagine Memorial Junior High School as a place where the future of education can be shaped.
Reimagining Memorial Junior High School – A New ChapterAt a time when historic buildings are sometimes not valued, a small piece of downtown Willoughby is being repurposed as an architecturally symbolic landmark in our city.
Across the nation, cities large and small are faced with the difficult decision of how to deal with structures dating from the turn of the century. In many cases these structures haven’t been maintained well, with damaged facades and interiors which are difficult to use in modern settings. When the costs to update it outweigh the building’s usefulness, it will either sit vacant or be demolished. However, as these beautiful old structures disappear, so does the history and collective story surrounding that structure. Entire neighborhoods can suffer when landmarks that define a particular “place” are erased.
One landmark in Willoughby Ohio, is Memorial Junior High School. Sitting between the converging roads of River and Center Street, this old school faces downtown Willoughby and can easily be seen from Wes Point Park and by pedestrians. The building which has been standing for 95 years, appears in many of Willoughby’s early photography and is known by almost everyone in the community.
Named “Memorial” after soldiers who died in battle since the Civil War, this brick structure was a school for junior high school students at its initial opening in 1925. As the population of Willoughby grew in the late 1950’s, a new high school was built on Shankland Road on the site of the former Chandler Farm. The former high school next door became the Junior High School and Memorial became its annex. It continued to serve as the Junior High School until 1972, when it transitioned to a vocational school and career center.
For the last several years, the building has fallen into disrepair and sat abandoned and vacant—until recently.
Exterior:
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ThenDesign Architecture (TDA) is reimagining Memorial Junior High School near downtown Willoughby to renovate the structure and move our offices to that location.
TDA, is an architectural, planning and design firm that has operated in Willoughby for almost 70 years. For the last 21 years, we were in the Carrel Building, another historic structure constructed in 1885. With the expansion of our 60 + staff and operations, we needed a new home.
Our two partners of the firm, Chris Smith and Bob Fiala, have led the firm’s growth and expansion. Chris Smith who serves as our president, joined the firm in 1998, and was named partner in 2004, as part of a well-crafted succession plan. Bob Fiala, who currently serves as the Mayor of Willoughby, is no longer involved in the day to day operations but provides strategic oversight and helps to maintain the culture. They both appreciate the historic character of downtown and sought to maintain that aesthetic with this new facility.
In fact, the project manager for the building’s renovation, Jeff Henderson is a longtime member of the community and former Memorial Junior High School Alumni. He never thought he would come back to school this way, but we feel we couldn’t have picked a better leader for the design team.
Studio Space:
While there are significant challenges associated with renovating this beautiful 24,000 sqft structure for our use, the design team is working to maintain both the unique characteristics of the building, while updating and modernizing the facility for the 21st century. Our design philosophy on this site involves showcasing the many intricate details of construction that went into the building. As our team developed designs for both the interior and exterior of the space, we found many opportunities to highlight the historic construction materials, while modernizing it for a fast paced, technically progressive architecture firm. Instead of finishing the construction details, many of the old ceilings, walls and finishes throughout the structure are remaining exposed. This in effect makes our new headquarters a living museum, showcasing not only current architectural designs but historic ones as well.
The completed reimagining of Memorial Junior High School includes an open mezzanine studio space with high open ceilings, a multipurpose recording studio, an open and flexible gathering space and classroom along with boardrooms and offices. Technologically, the building is being retrofitted with high speed internet connections, audio, and video hookups, along with the electrical connections needed to support all the advanced tools in the creative design fields. This unique office environment is designed with modern workspaces in mind, while preserving and celebrating the character of the historic building. This is a complete reimagining of Memorial Junior High School.
Interior Spaces and Stairwells:
With TDA’s role in educational facilities’ design and our involvement in downtown Willoughby, this move has been both a symbolic and practical one for us. Having worked with over 120 school districts in Cleveland and the surrounding areas, educators and administrators rely on our expertise in architecture, master planning and educational visioning. We felt a strong connection to this beautiful historic school building when considering locations for our new facility. Not only can we renovate this piece of history, cementing its future in the community, but also celebrate the significance of using a historic school as our new headquarters to continue innovating in educational design.
In order to stay updated on construction and future plans, subscribe to our newsletter and social channels to see what is next for this beautiful structure and the ever-changing field of education.
Building Details:
Do you have memories of this historic building? We would love to hear them.
Reach out and let us know.
ThenDesign Architecture
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
Reimagining Memorial Junior High School – A New ChapterAt a time when historic buildings are sometimes not valued, a small piece of downtown Willoughby is being repurposed as an architecturally symbolic landmark in our city.
Across the nation, cities large and small are faced with the difficult decision of how to deal with structures dating from the turn of the century. In many cases these structures haven’t been maintained well, with damaged facades and interiors which are difficult to use in modern settings. When the costs to update it outweigh the building’s usefulness, it will either sit vacant or be demolished. However, as these beautiful old structures disappear, so does the history and collective story surrounding that structure. Entire neighborhoods can suffer when landmarks that define a particular “place” are erased.
One landmark in Willoughby Ohio, is Memorial Junior High School. Sitting between the converging roads of River and Center Street, this old school faces downtown Willoughby and can easily be seen from Wes Point Park and by pedestrians. The building which has been standing for 95 years, appears in many of Willoughby’s early photography and is known by almost everyone in the community.
Named “Memorial” after soldiers who died in battle since the Civil War, this brick structure was a school for junior high school students at its initial opening in 1925. As the population of Willoughby grew in the late 1950’s, a new high school was built on Shankland Road on the site of the former Chandler Farm. The former high school next door became the Junior High School and Memorial became its annex. It continued to serve as the Junior High School until 1972, when it transitioned to a vocational school and career center.
For the last several years, the building has fallen into disrepair and sat abandoned and vacant—until recently.
Exterior:
Previous
Next
ThenDesign Architecture (TDA) is reimagining Memorial Junior High School near downtown Willoughby to renovate the structure and move our offices to that location.
TDA, is an architectural, planning and design firm that has operated in Willoughby for almost 70 years. For the last 21 years, we were in the Carrel Building, another historic structure constructed in 1885. With the expansion of our 60 + staff and operations, we needed a new home.
Our two partners of the firm, Chris Smith and Bob Fiala, have led the firm’s growth and expansion. Chris Smith who serves as our president, joined the firm in 1998, and was named partner in 2004, as part of a well-crafted succession plan. Bob Fiala, who currently serves as the Mayor of Willoughby, is no longer involved in the day to day operations but provides strategic oversight and helps to maintain the culture. They both appreciate the historic character of downtown and sought to maintain that aesthetic with this new facility.
In fact, the project manager for the building’s renovation, Jeff Henderson is a longtime member of the community and former Memorial Junior High School Alumni. He never thought he would come back to school this way, but we feel we couldn’t have picked a better leader for the design team.
Studio Space:
While there are significant challenges associated with renovating this beautiful 24,000 sqft structure for our use, the design team is working to maintain both the unique characteristics of the building, while updating and modernizing the facility for the 21st century. Our design philosophy on this site involves showcasing the many intricate details of construction that went into the building. As our team developed designs for both the interior and exterior of the space, we found many opportunities to highlight the historic construction materials, while modernizing it for a fast paced, technically progressive architecture firm. Instead of finishing the construction details, many of the old ceilings, walls and finishes throughout the structure are remaining exposed. This in effect makes our new headquarters a living museum, showcasing not only current architectural designs but historic ones as well.
The completed reimagining of Memorial Junior High School includes an open mezzanine studio space with high open ceilings, a multipurpose recording studio, an open and flexible gathering space and classroom along with boardrooms and offices. Technologically, the building is being retrofitted with high speed internet connections, audio, and video hookups, along with the electrical connections needed to support all the advanced tools in the creative design fields. This unique office environment is designed with modern workspaces in mind, while preserving and celebrating the character of the historic building. This is a complete reimagining of Memorial Junior High School.
Interior Spaces and Stairwells:
With TDA’s role in educational facilities’ design and our involvement in downtown Willoughby, this move has been both a symbolic and practical one for us. Having worked with over 120 school districts in Cleveland and the surrounding areas, educators and administrators rely on our expertise in architecture, master planning and educational visioning. We felt a strong connection to this beautiful historic school building when considering locations for our new facility. Not only can we renovate this piece of history, cementing its future in the community, but also celebrate the significance of using a historic school as our new headquarters to continue innovating in educational design.
In order to stay updated on construction and future plans, subscribe to our newsletter and social channels to see what is next for this beautiful structure and the ever-changing field of education.
Building Details:
Do you have memories of this historic building? We would love to hear them.
Reach out and let us know.
ThenDesign Architecture
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
City of Willoughby: Historic Center of Medical EducationEven though Willoughby is a small city, it’s impact is huge in the educational and medical fields in Ohio. How much do you know about the City of Willoughby?
Willoughby Ohio is known for being an idyllic “small town” in Northeastern Ohio. However most don’t know that even though it’s small, it made a huge impact in the founding of modern medical and educational facilities in our state. The secret to understanding this, is found in the name of our city…Willoughby.
It’s easy to ignore a town’s name, relegating it to the “dust bin,” of history, but there is a lot in a name. Charlton, Chagrin and Chagrin Mills–all of those were given to our community before the early citizens settled on Willoughby. In 1834, the residents (under 400 people at the time–and a lot of cats from the grist mill) changed the town name to “Willoughby,” after Dr. Westel Willoughby, a medical doctor serving in New York state. The suggestion came from Dr. George W. Card and Dr. John M. Henderson, two of his students, who founded the Willoughby University of Lake Erie, trying to draw their teacher, Dr. Willoughby, to support their medical school. Their big ambition? To create the most advanced medical school in Northeast Ohio.
Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t relocate to Ohio, but was so honored by their efforts, that he donated a complete medical library, he outlined the first year’s curriculum and sent $1,200 in support to the fledgling school. They had his blessing, despite the long distance. Around that time, the city incorporated and adopted his name. This signaled the beginning of advanced medical education in Northeast Ohio.
From the start, education influenced the story of our city.
Educations Impact in Willoughby
While hopes were high for the school, The Willoughby University of Lake Erie only operated between 1834-1846. It produced 618 graduates, 160 of which were doctors. They fanned out across the region, helping those in need and starting practices all over the state. This group was educated in modern methods of medicine (like using anesthesia for surgical operations—aren’t we glad for that?) and included anatomy, chemistry and surgery. Many of their techniques were controversial and when the source of cadavers for the anatomy classes were discovered, there was a huge public outcry. (Grave robbing always gets you in trouble with the public!). This, combined with a loss of funding and internal disagreements shuttered the university in 1847. The faculty dispersed but many of them ultimately seeded medical schools elsewhere in the state. Both the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, trace their roots through these early pioneers.
Previous
Next
Specifically, the OSU College of Medicine traces its lineage through the original Willoughby University of Lake Erie. OSU states, “The College [of Medicine] stands upon a foundation of six medical schools with a continuity of college life spanning 178 years.” This makes them the second oldest medical college in the state incorporating all the major medical disciplines.
So even though the Willoughby University of Lake Erie was shuttered in 1847, The Willoughby Female Seminary assumed the building and opened shortly afterwards. This educational institution was one of the first female colleges in Northeast Ohio. It was novel at the time since opportunities for women to enroll in higher education was not a common occurrence. It was dedicated to educating women in math, music, art, language, and philosophy. Due to its popularity, it enrolled 100 women in the first year of operation.
So, the little town of Willoughby, was named after an educator and doctor. While it wasn’t specifically known for medicine or education, it seeded world renowned medical and educational schools, was home to advances in medicine and supported women’s education, long before this was commonly accepted.
All that buried in the name of our city!
Transition to Modern History
During the late nineteenth and early 20th century, Willoughby was a peaceful oasis outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Later this idea would be further popularized by the Twilight Zone episode, “A Stop at Willoughby”. Cleveland, which was a busy metropolis, offered many economic opportunities for American workers and its proximity to nearby communities fronting Lake Erie, furthered its appeal. Even though automobiles were common in Cleveland in the early 1900’s, the advent of expressways in the early 1940s shortened time it took motorists to travel outside the city. When the national Interstate Highway System came through in late 1950s and mid-1970s, it more easily allowed those living in Cleveland to enjoy cottages or second homes in the surrounding cities–Willoughby being one. Cleveland continued developing and more and more people living in this urban environment, could easily travel and enjoy smaller lake front communities.
Today, Willoughby continues to build on its “small town roots” but still providing easy access to Cleveland. A thriving downtown promotes many community activities. One activity is the annual “ArtsFest.” This downtown gathering brings together over 140 juried artists, musicians, and local food, all centered around the downtown neighborhood. Another event is the “Last Stop Willoughby Parade” which celebrates the Willoughby’s historic connection to the rail industry in Cleveland.
City leadership regularly, meets with surrounding municipal leaders to strategize on issues facing their communities. (Even if it’s just to record a Facebook video together, encouraging citizens to enjoy a doughnut or beer when businesses reopen.) In 1980, Richard Gaede F.A.I.A. was hired to conduct a study of Downtown Willoughby, redesign the streetscape, foster economic viability, and preserve the central historic district. On November 29, 1995 approximately nine blocks centered around the junction of Erie and River Streets and Euclid Avenue in Downtown Willoughby were placed on the National Historic Register, recognizing the architectural importance of the structures to the community, and further promoting business downtown.
“Historically, Willoughby foreshadowed a major impact in education, medicine, and the arts.”
ThenDesign Architecture
While there are always ups and downs, education continues to be a regular focus of the Willoughby-Eastlake communities, with a recent $155 million bond issue passing narrowly, providing funding for the construction of three new schools in the area, along with a new YMCA and senior center.
The Fine Arts Association, was established by Jim and Louise Savage. Early on, it was hosted in their home, but has expanded through the generations to its current home on Mentor avenue. The Association is provides music and art lessons for young people, grants scholarships and sponsors other art related activities in the community. The Savages, who were masters at “getting things done” dedicated themselves to creating a space to provide opportunities for education in the fine arts. Now, 62 years later, the FAA enhances the lives of over 60,000 people annually through classes in theater, music, dance, and art, and stands as one of the preeminent organization to advocate for art education in Northeast Ohio.
What is in a name? Historically, Willoughby foreshadowed a major impact in education, medicine, and the arts. Our community continues its tradition of promoting education, and fostering a strong sense of civic pride and that reaches far back to its historic roots.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
City of Willoughby: Historic Center of Medical EducationEven though Willoughby is a small city, it’s impact is huge in the educational and medical fields in Ohio. How much do you know about the City of Willoughby?
Willoughby Ohio is known for being an idyllic “small town” in Northeastern Ohio. However most don’t know that even though it’s small, it made a huge impact in the founding of modern medical and educational facilities in our state. The secret to understanding this, is found in the name of our city…Willoughby.
It’s easy to ignore a town’s name, relegating it to the “dust bin,” of history, but there is a lot in a name. Charlton, Chagrin and Chagrin Mills–all of those were given to our community before the early citizens settled on Willoughby. In 1834, the residents (under 400 people at the time–and a lot of cats from the grist mill) changed the town name to “Willoughby,” after Dr. Westel Willoughby, a medical doctor serving in New York state. The suggestion came from Dr. George W. Card and Dr. John M. Henderson, two of his students, who founded the Willoughby University of Lake Erie, trying to draw their teacher, Dr. Willoughby, to support their medical school. Their big ambition? To create the most advanced medical school in Northeast Ohio.
Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t relocate to Ohio, but was so honored by their efforts, that he donated a complete medical library, he outlined the first year’s curriculum and sent $1,200 in support to the fledgling school. They had his blessing, despite the long distance. Around that time, the city incorporated and adopted his name. This signaled the beginning of advanced medical education in Northeast Ohio.
From the start, education influenced the story of our city.
Educations Impact in Willoughby
While hopes were high for the school, The Willoughby University of Lake Erie only operated between 1834-1846. It produced 618 graduates, 160 of which were doctors. They fanned out across the region, helping those in need and starting practices all over the state. This group was educated in modern methods of medicine (like using anesthesia for surgical operations—aren’t we glad for that?) and included anatomy, chemistry and surgery. Many of their techniques were controversial and when the source of cadavers for the anatomy classes were discovered, there was a huge public outcry. (Grave robbing always gets you in trouble with the public!). This, combined with a loss of funding and internal disagreements shuttered the university in 1847. The faculty dispersed but many of them ultimately seeded medical schools elsewhere in the state. Both the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, trace their roots through these early pioneers.
Previous
Next
Specifically, the OSU College of Medicine traces its lineage through the original Willoughby University of Lake Erie. OSU states, “The College [of Medicine] stands upon a foundation of six medical schools with a continuity of college life spanning 178 years.” This makes them the second oldest medical college in the state incorporating all the major medical disciplines.
So even though the Willoughby University of Lake Erie was shuttered in 1847, The Willoughby Female Seminary assumed the building and opened shortly afterwards. This educational institution was one of the first female colleges in Northeast Ohio. It was novel at the time since opportunities for women to enroll in higher education was not a common occurrence. It was dedicated to educating women in math, music, art, language, and philosophy. Due to its popularity, it enrolled 100 women in the first year of operation.
So, the little town of Willoughby, was named after an educator and doctor. While it wasn’t specifically known for medicine or education, it seeded world renowned medical and educational schools, was home to advances in medicine and supported women’s education, long before this was commonly accepted.
All that buried in the name of our city!
Transition to Modern History
During the late nineteenth and early 20th century, Willoughby was a peaceful oasis outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Later this idea would be further popularized by the Twilight Zone episode, “A Stop at Willoughby”. Cleveland, which was a busy metropolis, offered many economic opportunities for American workers and its proximity to nearby communities fronting Lake Erie, furthered its appeal. Even though automobiles were common in Cleveland in the early 1900’s, the advent of expressways in the early 1940s shortened time it took motorists to travel outside the city. When the national Interstate Highway System came through in late 1950s and mid-1970s, it more easily allowed those living in Cleveland to enjoy cottages or second homes in the surrounding cities–Willoughby being one. Cleveland continued developing and more and more people living in this urban environment, could easily travel and enjoy smaller lake front communities.
Today, Willoughby continues to build on its “small town roots” but still providing easy access to Cleveland. A thriving downtown promotes many community activities. One activity is the annual “ArtsFest.” This downtown gathering brings together over 140 juried artists, musicians, and local food, all centered around the downtown neighborhood. Another event is the “Last Stop Willoughby Parade” which celebrates the Willoughby’s historic connection to the rail industry in Cleveland.
City leadership regularly, meets with surrounding municipal leaders to strategize on issues facing their communities. (Even if it’s just to record a Facebook video together, encouraging citizens to enjoy a doughnut or beer when businesses reopen.) In 1980, Richard Gaede F.A.I.A. was hired to conduct a study of Downtown Willoughby, redesign the streetscape, foster economic viability, and preserve the central historic district. On November 29, 1995 approximately nine blocks centered around the junction of Erie and River Streets and Euclid Avenue in Downtown Willoughby were placed on the National Historic Register, recognizing the architectural importance of the structures to the community, and further promoting business downtown.
“Historically, Willoughby foreshadowed a major impact in education, medicine, and the arts.”
ThenDesign Architecture
While there are always ups and downs, education continues to be a regular focus of the Willoughby-Eastlake communities, with a recent $155 million bond issue passing narrowly, providing funding for the construction of three new schools in the area, along with a new YMCA and senior center.
The Fine Arts Association, was established by Jim and Louise Savage. Early on, it was hosted in their home, but has expanded through the generations to its current home on Mentor avenue. The Association is provides music and art lessons for young people, grants scholarships and sponsors other art related activities in the community. The Savages, who were masters at “getting things done” dedicated themselves to creating a space to provide opportunities for education in the fine arts. Now, 62 years later, the FAA enhances the lives of over 60,000 people annually through classes in theater, music, dance, and art, and stands as one of the preeminent organization to advocate for art education in Northeast Ohio.
What is in a name? Historically, Willoughby foreshadowed a major impact in education, medicine, and the arts. Our community continues its tradition of promoting education, and fostering a strong sense of civic pride and that reaches far back to its historic roots.
Let’s work together to make education better. Interested in speaking with us? Get in touch!
Get our newsletter with insights, events and tips.
