A project that overhauls and redesigns urban playgrounds and a high school with flexible classroom space have been named Grand Prize Winners of the 2003 Learning By Design contest.

The judges also selected a pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade elementary school in an economically depressed area and the renovation of a 1912 high school as Citation Winners in the 12th annual showcase of excellence in school design.

	Wallace Floyd Design Group's contributions to the Boston Schoolyard Initiative brought verdant landscapes and outdoor instructional spaces to more than a dozen urban schools. Photo: Jerry Howard/WFDG

Two projects from the Northeast — the Boston Schoolyard Initiative in Massachusetts and the Woodland Regional High School in Connecticut — earned the judges' top award for their ingenuity and innovative design.

The Boston-based Wallace Floyd Design Group won for its contribution to the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, a partnership of public and private entities that overhaul and redesign urban schoolyards. The initiative, started by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has 41 finished sites and 22 more in the planning stages.

Wallace Floyd's architects, who have designed 13 of the sites, incorporated community suggestions into their plans, which were selected as winners in the landscape architecture/playground category.

But seeking neighborhood input was not the only avenue the designers followed. They also worked with teachers to make the playgrounds available as outdoor classroom space as well as play areas. As a result, some spaces have been transformed into arboretums and gardens, while others have been turned into performance areas and spaces to draw and measure.

While many urban schoolyards tend to be small and intensely used, the judges said this multi-school initiative provides a creative and appropriate opportunity to show how to design playgrounds at different sites. It also reflects increased attention and investment in urban schools, the judges said, noting that the designs go beyond "simply installing playground equipment on asphalt."

Child-size in scale, the schoolyard designs don't pander to kids or seem contrived, one judge remarked. "They provide teaching space, experiential learning opportunities, and remarkable variety," the judge noted.

	The design team at Jeter, Cook & Jepson was inspired by the region's mill architecture when it designed Woodland Regional High School.

Variety and a sense of history were two reasons the Woodland Regional High School, designed by Jeter, Cook & Jepson Architects, Inc., of Hartford, Conn., was honored in the new construction category.

The Jeter, Cook & Jepson design team drew inspiration from the surrounding regional mill architecture in Beacon Falls and Prospect, Conn., when it developed the plans for the school. The site's steep geography required the team to design a terraced building with large stairs.

The school is divided into three pavilions — academic, arts, and athletics — with a common area or "town square" uniting them. The classrooms in the academic pavilion allow flexibility in using small- and large-group instruction.

Woodland is a lot of school for the money, the judges noted, and the architects did not scrimp on quality. The use of a variety of materials inside gives a sense of quality that feels higher than it really is. At a total cost of $31 million for land and construction, the project's cost per square foot ($162) seems a bargain, the judges said.

The judges also admired the generous use of natural light inside the school. Because Woodland Regional has no interior classrooms, all are open to light. The color scheme used inside also won't become dated quickly, one judge said.

Also, the judges liked the teacher workspaces located around the building because they encourage collaboration. The variety of learning spaces makes the building adaptable.

Outside, the school received kudos as well. The designer's sensitivity to Woodland Regional's surroundings and community make the school blend into the area. The judges noted that the architects used the terrain instead of destroying it, turning the outside courtyards into good teaching spaces.

	The renovation of the 90-year-old Lewis and Clark High School added modern features such as an auditorium and field house / gymnasium while retaining the historic building.

Two architectural firms from Washington state were chosen as the citation winners. LSW Architects, PC, of Vancouver was selected in the new construction category for the Fruit Valley Community Learning Center. Spokane's Lewis and Clark High School, designed by Northwest Architectural Co., was honored in the renovation/addition/ restoration category.

A pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade elementary school in an economically depressed area, the Fruit Valley Community Learning Center serves as an early childhood center, food bank, clothing closet, and social services center. Head Start runs both full- and half-day programs at the school.

The heart of the building is a media center with a fiber-optic network that connects the school's 10 classrooms. Classrooms have movable walls to make smaller or larger groupings possible.

Early childhood programs are one of the biggest educational needs right now, the judges said, noting that the Fruit Valley project is a good example of how architects can address this need through integral design rather than through add-ons or portable classrooms.

The judges also liked the wood and stone materials used in construction. "The interiors are understated and won't be quickly dated," one judge noted. "This project is not clichéd."

In Spokane, school officials wanted to renovate and add on to the venerable Lewis and Clark High School, a 1912 high school on the National Register of Historic Places. The design team at Northwest Architectural Co. was charged with preserving the historic building while allowing it to be fitted with new HVAC systems, Internet and telephone wiring, and other types of infrastructure.

The project balances history with the feeling of innovative education, the judges said. The addition, which nearly doubled the high school's space, recalls the original without slavishly following it, a judge said.

One challenge was fitting everything in on a small site (about 7.5 acres) with a major highway cutting through the middle. The designers created a skywalk over the road that links the academic building with the athletic and music facilities. The skywalk suggests a 19th century railroad trestle.

"It acknowledges the neighborhood without coming across as artifice," one judge said of the skywalk.

The school's new field house gymnasium was of particular note to the judges. They commended Spokane for offering on a small, urban site physical education facilities equal to those in large, suburban areas.