Fallingwater Institute’s summer residency programs have a new educational hub

Students of the Fallingwater Institute’s summer residence programs in architecture, art, and design have a new educational hub courtesy Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. Dubbed High Meadow Studio, the building is an addition to and renovation of an existing garage.

The garage was previously used as the summer programs’ design studio, but the small size limited capacity while the lack of natural daylight, views, and ventilation disconnected the space from the nearby meadow. The new studio doubles the existing footprint and adds a fabrication shop, review space, storage, support spaces, a covered outdoor work area, and a strong connection to the natural surroundings.

High Meadow Studio exterior Photo: Christian Phillips.

The existing garage structure was re-skinned and re-purposed to serve as the fabrication shop. Opaque double garage doors were replaced with translucent panels that open to direct views of the meadow. The studio addition is positioned into the forest between mature trees and includes a translucent north wall paired with a full-length pin-up southern wall.

Two red-stained plywood cores house the support and storage spaces and frame the link between the shop and the studio. Roof vents draw air from the forest floor across the studio through operable panels and custom screens block insects from entering the space.

High meadow studio outdoor work space Photo: Christian Phillips.

High meadow studio interior workshop space Courtesy BCJ.

High meadow studio interior studio space with students at work Courtesy BCJ.

The repurposed High Meadow Studio garage workspace Photo: Christian Phillips.

LPA Architects conducted a post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, of the eSTEM Academy, a new high school specializing in health/medical and design/engineering Career Technical Education, in Eastvale, Calif. The POE helped LPA, the Riverside County Office of Education, and the Corona-Norco Unified School District gain a better understanding of which design innovations—such as movable walls, flex furniture, collaborative spaces, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and a student union—enhanced the education program, and how well students and teachers used these innovations.

Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021

Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]

New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.