Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Concept Designs for New Schools

Over 30 people came on Sept 16th to see initial plans for the new elementary and over 40 people came on the 22nd to see design plans for the new high school. This was a pretty good turnout, and VSB provided generously of their time to listen to concerns and explain ideas.

This is an innovative initiative in designing learning space for kindergarten through high school which will set the precedent in Vancouver for at least a generation. ALL DRAWINGS ARE STILL "CONCEPTS" - NOT ENGINEERING PLANS.

The drawings can be seen via links on the UHill home page at http://uhill-sec.vsb.bc.ca/ or directly as follows:
  • Plan of the site (858 kbyte PDF File)
  • Concept plan of main & upper Floors (1.63Mbyte PDF File). These show current ideas about how all the different spaces in the high school are likely to look. It is version 28 of the concept, and it is still under development.
  • 4 views of the outsides (545 kbyte PDF File)
  • 3D models of new the school (577 kbyte PDF File)
Take a look and PLEASE provide questions and comments in the comment box of this post.

3 comments:

Francis said...

There has been concern expressed about traffic and pedestrian crossings of 16th avenue. While this is not something the school board can address, they can advocate for better, saver crossings.

Does anyone else have a comment?

Charles Menzies said...

It looks like a nice set up. It will be a wonderful place, a new learning environment and the details will work themselves out as the building is used by staff and students.

Traffic and circulation is a problem, but not any more than one would except given the dynamics of the surrounding roads.

There were plans for UBC to construct a second round point (like the one at Westbrook and 16th). I am not certain where that plan is in the timeline. As someone who lives in the neighbourhood and who uses the intersection on foot and on bike I think that the traffic issues will be okay as long as PARENTS DO NOT DRIVE their children to school and as long as UBC STUDENTS/STAFF/FACULTY START TO SLOW DOWN. Aside from that it will be okay.

It would be a good idea to start with both elementary and current high school families and press home the message that driving to the school is inappropriate. As more and more of the students come to be local area residents the urge to take a car should diminish.

After a decade of waiting simply seeing plans is refreshing.

Francis said...

I agree, Charles, seeing plans is a refreshing change.

Your suggestion that pressing home the message about NOT driving to school is a good one. This is certainly within PAC's mandate, and we'll discuss what we can do.

It's also good to hear a more sanguine reaction to the current and future traffic situation on 16th. Input from planning people suggests the relevant folks (NOT vsb) do have crossing 16th on their 'radar', so we'll simply have to watch what happens.

Thanks for the input, FJ