Studio One Eleven Helps Green Lowell Elementary
LONG BEACH (Oct. 26, 2008) – Members of Studio One Eleven, as well as volunteer students, faculty, parents, businesses and neighbors of Lowell Elementary School in Long Beach, came together this Fall to plant the equivalent of a one-acre forest at the school. Now in full bloom, the renovated playground has provided students with a much-improved outdoor environment.
Initiated by the Long Beach Unified School District’s desire to resurface the campus playground, an existing 80-year-old school, Studio One Eleven developed open space goals including additional landscaping and programmed activities. As part of this program, vines pockets were located near chain link fences to provide “green” walls and new trees arranged to define outdoor rooms that allow for various activities and create unique places throughout the campus. The planted trees were positioned to shade the buildings and the playground, reducing the urban heat island affect.
With the support of local sponsors, volunteers planted 48 total trees in October with a low water demand, fast growth rate, non-invasive roots and minimum leaf litter. In addition, playground stripping was reconfigured to accommodate more activities and a future lawn.
Future plans call for the asphalt on two ball fields to be replaced with turf in order to further cool the campus and capture rain water.
Sponsors included: Jacqui Viale (Fundraising); Brett Beck (Planting Coordination); Long Beach Kiwanis; The Doty Family; The Comstock Family; Grant Jirard; Third District Councilman Gary DeLong (Street Tree Donation); Principal Laurie Murrin; Jon Meyer, Board of Education, District 4; and Studio One Eleven (Campus and Landscape Design Services).
Planting volunteers included: Tree People; Circle K, Students from California State University Long Beach; Students from Long Beach City College; students from University of California, Irvine; students from UCLA; Wilson High School Assisteens; Assistance League of Long Beach; YMCA Ahwahneechees Indian Guide Group; and the Long Beach Firefighters Local 372 who provided BBQ meals.
More images can be viewed on the Long Beach Press-Telegram website.
About Studio One Eleven
Studio One Eleven (www.studio-111.com) is a distinct division of Perkowitz+Ruth Architects dedicated to creating more vibrant communities through an integrated practice of architecture and urbanism. Rigorous design criteria guides all work, from urban design strategies operating at scales ranging from the block to the city, to architectural projects located on urban infill sites. The Studio was founded on the belief that the purpose of architecture is the making of more livable and sustainable cities, and each project is viewed as an opportunity to physically enhance the urban context that it sustains. While committed to architectural solutions that represent contemporary buildings of our time, Studio One Eleven designs are not predicated by a singular language but are inspired through the careful assessment of the place where they stand.