Archinect - News

How schools are adapting their architecture for enhanced student safety amid lack of gun control

2023-03-22T19:57:00-04:00

But now, instead of calling for fortified entrances and security features that can put students on edge, experts are calling for a more holistic approach – where architecture serves as a conduit for both physical security and for supporting students' mental health to prevent violence in the first place.

Responsive elements like magnet-locking classroom doors, “shadow zones”, and even bulletproof storm shelters have been popular design solutions for school districts such as Fruitport, Michigan, which just spent $48 million on a new building based on those and other, less visible concerns.

Architects must consider not only the immediate physical prevention of violence but also the positive impact on the psychological development of pupils their designs can have. This means the K-12 sector may be undergoing its largest change since the 1970s, when the movement towards large classrooms and open spaces engendered many of the challenges safety upgrade projects are tying to mitigate.

Earlier on Archinect: Designing around gun violence

"They have these hallways and lockers, but there's no place to hang out, no place to socialize," architect Rene Berndt, who sits on the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) board of directors, explained to NPR. "And so, we're trying our b...

A decade after the tragedy, SWA Group unveils memorial to Sandy Hook victims as a center of reflection

2022-11-14T15:23:00-05:00

Ten years removed from the tragic shooting that claimed the lives of 27 school children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, SWA Group has today officially unveiled a permanent memorial to the victims, called The Clearing, that will seek to heal the community, survivors, and family members still in search of justice in their tight-knit New England town.

Located on a five-acre parcel of donated land near the replacement for the now demolished former elementary school, the design for the memorial keys on three elements integrated into interconnected paths that bring visitors through a circuitry of woodlands, meadows, and a water feature intended to “honor the process of grieving and remembrance.”

Photo: Neil Landino

SWA says: “The Sandy Hook Memorial differs from other memorials in that it was publicly funded and completely community-led. It is also primarily landscape rather than a monument. Memorials are typically embedded in landscape rather than having landscape as the focus. The ...

Newtown, CT approves SWA's plans for a Sandy Hook Memorial ahead of the tragedy’s tenth anniversary

2021-06-17T12:10:00-04:00

A new memorial to victims of the Sandy Hook shooting has been approved following a referendum vote in Connecticut that finalized the project after nearly three years of cost-related delays.

View of fountain. Image courtesy SWA Group.

The memorial is adjacent to the new Sandy Hook Elementary campus and will open on the tenth anniversary of the shooting in December of next year.

Aerial view. Image courtesy SWA Group.

SWA’s 2018 design for The Clearing will invite visitors into the 5-acre donated space via a network of paths surrounded by meadows and centered by a sycamore tree at the base of a water feature set upon a granite base. The garden plan was approved unanimously by a memorial committee after a competition yielded 189 different entries for what will eventually be dedicated as Connecticut’s second gun-violence related memorial in as many years.

Site plan. Image courtesy SWA Group.

The state legislature also voted this month to approve a bond package that would contribute $2.6 mi...

Sandy Hook memorial design by SWA Group takes a step forward

2019-12-30T20:13:00-05:00

“The themes of nature, rebirth and regrowth made it perfect for a landscape memorial,” said Affleck. They aimed to incorporate plants and materials that fit seamlessly into Connecticut’s natural environment, like the sycamore tree. The designers also spent time discussing grief with people in their own lives who have experienced it. They came to the conclusion that everyone heals differently.

A proposal created by Ben Waldo and Dan Affleck of SWA Group in San Francisco has been selected as the winning design for the Sandy Hook memorial in Connecticut. The memorial design features a circular reflecting pool at the center surrounded by peaceful gardens and meandering pathways that will allow visitors to "engage with the site in a way that is unique to them,” Waldo says in the Hartford Courant. If Newtown residents vote to fund the memorial, construction will start in December 2020. Plans call for the memorial to open to the public on December 14, 2021.

Waldo and Affleck's design was “universally loved” by the victims’ families, the memorial commission chair Daniel Krauss told the Courant.

The New Sandy Hook Elementary really looks like a church

2016-08-02T13:05:00-04:00

there is a moat, of sorts, between the parking lot and the school. It’s planted with indigenous flowers and advertised as a learning opportunity for kids. The whole place has a playful, tree-house aspect, but indications of its impenetrability are everywhere: This sanctuary is a fortress, too.

Lisa Miller attended a recent "media access day" for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, designed by New Haven architects Svigals + Partners.

The Architecture of Loss: How to Redesign After a School Shooting

2014-11-20T14:22:00-05:00

Good architects strive to balance design and function while listening closely to a client’s emotional needs for the space. Public projects often have the added layers of bureaucratic paperwork, media scrutiny, and community outreach. But rebuilding a school after a shooting presents a unique kaleidoscope of intense feelings. Architects must create an environment that not only promotes learning, but also helps the students—and their towns—heal from tragedy.

In New Sandy Hook School, Newtown Plays Design Role

2014-03-20T14:11:00-04:00

The school will be in the woods, away from the parking lot. It will feature a long, curving corridor that the architect likens to arms embracing students as they enter. [...] The architects the town chose, Svigals + Partners, a 30-person firm based in New Haven, had only a half-dozen elementary schools in its portfolio, far fewer than bigger competitors for the commission. It was known as well for designing laboratories for Yale and high-end houses for celebrities