SCHOOLS
XERIC DEMONSTRATION PARK , University of Northern Colorado. Greeley, Colorado
Native Plant Educational Park
This is the largest xeric, or low water use park in the state of Colorado, and is constructed with plants native to Colorado, and is used as a teaching laboratory for the Botany and Biology Departments at the University.
The staff of Sweetgrass Design, LLC, while with our former firm, MDG, provided planning and design services for a five acre environmental educational park on the University of Northern Colorado campus. The park is a joint venture between the City of Greeley, The Great Outdoors Colorado, and the Teachers College at UNCG, and the Botany Department at the University.
Design elements include outdoor classroom amphitheater, a stone pedestrian birdge, a wetland pond, demonstration gardens for various grasses, shrubs, trees, wildflowers and an area dedicated to University research. The park is currently the largest educational demonstration of xeric vegetation and irrigation methods in Colorado. We facilitated the development of the parks’s program as an educational theme, and coordinated this effort with local citizens, students, professors, and city representatives. In addition, we administered the bidding process and provided construction observation services.
UPPER AND LOWER PRIMARY SCHOOL HABITAT GARDENS, SUMMIT SCHOOL,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
This is a Silver level LEED certified project
Summit School is a private preparatory school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that serves students from kindergarten through 9th grade. The lower schools have gotten new facilities in 2008. These gardens are currently under design by Sweetgrass Design.
The goal of these gardens is to provide an extension to the educational process occurring in the classrooms, out in the landscape.
GOLDEN HIGH SCHOOL, Golden, Colorado
The staff of Sweetgrass Design, LLC while with our former firm, MDG,worked with Jefferson County School District on this outdoor school enhancement project. Part of the re-design and layout of Golden High School’s athletic complex. Included in this project’s design was the sighting, layout and design for new soccer and softball fields.
Also included was the resurfacing of the existing six lane track as well as the correction of the pre-existing drainage problems that surrounded the track.
ST. VINCENT DePaul School, Denver, Colorado
The staff of Sweetgrass Design, LLC while with our former firm, MDG, provided design services for an outdoor education area located behind the Saint Vincent De Paul School. The primary focus of the project was to provide a creative outdoor learning environment for use by the students.
The final conceptual master plan incorporated the numerous program goals on the quarter-acre site. The concept resembled the elements of a historic church. The project included: an outdoor chapel/classroom, a parent waiting area, a shade structure, an entry plaza, a playground, a concrete path and numerous gravel paths. To accommodate a learning environment, the design included education areas for geography, geology and math, wildlife habitat plantings, a butterfly garden, raised beds for student gardens, an art display area, a compass and a weather station.
DR. PHILLIPS HIGH SCHOOL, Dr. Phillips, Florida
a Walt Disney School sponsored project
Walt Disney World sponsored a unique project to landscape the grounds of the Dr. Phillips Compact High School.
The members of Sweetgrass Design, while with Sara Edi's former firm, Livingston & Associates, were retained by Disney to work with the students in such a way that they participated in the design, installation and on-going maintenance of the project.
The goal of the landscape project was to promote stewardship that would instill pride in the students, and in turn, encourage feelings of ownership for their school grounds. While learning about the climate and environment, the students also learned the importance of creating habitat for birds and butterflies.
The students, the Sweetgrass Design staff, and numerous volunteers from Disney and the community installed all elements of the final landscape plan. The installation included decks, concrete walks, handrails, setting benches and planting many trees, shrubs, flowers and ground covers.