Transcript Project Name

2008 Exhibition of School
Planning and Architecture
Betty Fairfax High School
Phoenix, AZ
High School
Project of Distinction
DLR Group
Betty Fairfax High School
Campus Pathways
Community Environment:
The district’s vision to create a Small
Learning Environment within a new 2,400student urban high school was achieved by
translating it into a brainstorm of ideas. This
“Ideation” became the launching point for
an incredibly unique and pure Small Learning
Community campus. The Ideation equipped
the design team to create a high school that
embraced the following ideals to impact
students through:
Focus. Personalization. Transparency.
Empowerment. Socialization. Community.
Motivation. Dispersion. Ownership.
Adaptability. Innovation. Compactness.
Nurturing. Inspiration. Identity. Security.
Intuition. Diversity. Rigor. Reflection.
Relevance. Respect.
While these concepts raised the banner for
creative design, the team never lost sight of
the real-world challenges and problems
facing students, staff, and faculty today—
issues of security and safety, identity and
pride, efficiency and accountability.
Campus Connections
Community Environment:
The campus responds to the unique
community surrounding the site: multifamily housing to the north and south,
residential to the east and commercial
to the west. The contemporary design
takes advantage of picturesque
mountain views, as most of the twostory buildings feature extensive
windows. Classroom buildings reach out
to eastern neighborhoods and frame
morning sunrises. Several open, but
shaded gathering spaces are found
along the chief street that runs through
the campus.
Student Services is located at the center
of the campus, adjacent to the food
service kitchen. Student Services is the
central icon for the campus, where
visitors enter and students gather to
use the central Library and Café. These
three traditionally separate functions
combine in one unique collaborative
and vibrant space, creating both interior
and exterior spaces for students to
study, gather, and relax.
Small Learning Community
Learning Environment:
The planning solution developed a
Small Learning Community (SLC)
design to deliver the promise of a
small school environment on a large
school campus. The SLC design
solution clusters classrooms into
separate schools while providing
collaborative space for students and
staff. Each SLC includes
administration, counseling, and
computer/media services as well as a
large gathering area to accommodate
the entire student population of that
individual school, allowing a true
community to develop.
These SLCs promote a genuine sense
of belonging. They are designed to
form a rich learning environment by
providing inspirational spaces and
sociable places where students are
encouraged and empowered to
succeed.
Science Lab
Learning Environment:
The goal was to organize the
large 2,400 student population
into smaller cohorts, each with
their own distinct identity and a
degree of autonomy. Each SLC
has the same number of core
curriculum classrooms, and
science labs. This allows
students to focus the majority
of their academic time with a
smaller group of peers,
resulting in familiarity between
students and staff, ownership in
their education and
surroundings, and pride and
inclusiveness within their SLC.
Performing Arts Center
Learning Environment:
The facility supports the in-place
instructional process and adapts
easily to changing curricular
delivery models. Each SLC has a
plug-in curriculum, unique to
their school, and encourages
targeted involvement of students
from other areas of campus.
These plug-in curriculum pieces
include Dance, Studio Arts,
Aerobics/Weights, and Computer
Technology. Having elective
curriculum focused in different
schools lends a unique identity
to the respective schools and
allows socialization between
students from the four schools.
Student Gathering Area
Physical Environment
Administration, counseling, and
resource and computer labs occur at
each SLC and are planned around a
large central, multi-use gathering area
to accommodate a variety of activities.
The SLC serves as the defining
structure to the campus layout, with
PE/Athletics and Performing Arts
acting as bookends for the campus. In
addition, these large program
elements are integrated into the
academic fabric of the campus by
virtue of their association to the
aforementioned ‘plug-in’ curriculum
pieces. Both major components would
then have a strong association with
the core curriculum, metaphorically
and figuratively.
Media Center
Physical Environment:
Fresh air, daylight and expansive views
are highlights of this project. Daylight
in all core classrooms is enhanced
through the building’s orientation,
while minimizing thermal heat gain.
Other energy-efficient features include
a highly performing building envelope
and an efficient central chiller system,
and native landscaping. Indoor air
quality is enhanced due to use of low
maintenance materials.
The bold forms, materials and color
palette of the school’s design mimic
desert flowers spread beneath the
backdrop of rugged mountains.
SLC at Dusk
Planning Process:
The design process was an intensely
collaborative one. Throughout our six-step
design process we collaborated with district
leaders, faculty, students, and neighborhood
representatives as a true community design
team to arrive at the final visionary result for
Betty Fairfax High School. Collaborative
charette sessions occurred weekly during 60
days of conceptual design with
representation from the following groups:
• Administration
• Student Council
• Executive Team
• Principals
• Curriculum Leaders
• CORE Curriculum Advisors
• Science Faculty
• Performing Arts Faculty
• Visual/Applied Arts Faculty
• Music/Band Faculty
• Technology Faculty
• Library Staff
• Athletics/PE Faculty
• Life Skills/Day-Care Staff
• Food Service
• Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing
• Landscape/Maintenance
• City of Phoenix Streets & Traffic
• Utility and Infrastructure
• Adjacent Developers & City Planners
SLC at Dusk
Planning Process:
The interactive planning process
established six memorable goals
derived from the specific challenges
identified which guided the design
process and formed the basis for
judging the success of the project:
• Small Learning Communities
• Student-Focused Campus
• Adaptability over Time
• Intuitive Design
• Interactivity and Personalization
• Environmental Responsibility
“The development of this school was well-planned and many people
contributed to making it work. We opened on time, fully functional and
awed by the spectacular results. It was inspiring to see the reaction of our
staff, students and parents when they saw this facility for the first time,”
- Zachary Munoz, Principal
Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture
2008 Project Data
Submitting Firm :
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
DLR Group
Architect/Engineer
Valerie Gieler
Public Relations
7290 W. 133rd St
Overland Park, KS 66213, USA
913/897-7811
Joint Partner Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
DLR Group
Architect
Tom O’Neil, AIA
Principal in the Firm
6225 N. 24th Street, Suite 250
Phoenix, AZ 85016
602/381-8580
Other Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
Construction Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Construction Manager
Jeff Keck
Project Manager
5002 S. Ash Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85282
480/345-8729
Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture
2008 Project Details
Project Name
Betty Fairfax High School
City
Laveen
State
Arizona
District Name
Phoenix Union High School District
Supt/President
Art Lebowitz
Occupancy Date
8/2007
Grades Housed
9-12
Capacity(Students)
2,400
Site Size (acres)
51 acres
Gross Area (sq. ft.)
345,000 SF
Per Occupant(pupil)
138 SF
gross/net please indicate
gross
Design and Build?
If yes, Total Cost:
Includes:
If no,
Site Development:
$3,461,769
Building Construction:
$58,060,796
Fixed Equipment:
District provided
Other:
$1,477,435
Total:
$63,000,000