Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Reducing Runoff, Growing Student Spaces

  • 05/01/18
Unilock Pavers

Orozco Academy in Chicago was able to reduce the possibility of future flooding, while also giving students more space for recreation—all with the help of Unilock Pavers.

Orozco Academy in Chicago, Ill., is a fine arts and sciences elementary school dedicated to fostering student engagement and creativity. The Academy has been transformed with the help of Space to Grow, an innovative public-private partnership program that develops Chicago schoolyards into centers for school and community life to support active healthy lifestyles, outdoor learning, physical education, and engagement with nature.

The City Department of Water Management and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District are funded to reduce flooding and combined sewer overflows but often have no available land to temporarily store runoff. The Chicago Public Schools have land but limited budgets, which are typically targeted to classrooms and teachers rather than playgrounds and parking lots.

The Space to Grow program partners these groups for mutual benefit. The stormwater management improvements at Orozco include 10,000 square feet of Unilock Eco-Optiloc permeable pavers and have the capacity to hold more than 303,000 gallons of water. Additional site improvements include: a multipurpose turf field, play equipment for younger and older students, an outdoor classroom area, a rain garden with native plants, and seating throughout the schoolyard.

Students now have a much-needed play space while runoff rates and volumes are significantly reduced eliminating the likelihood of future flooding and greatly reducing the pollutant load to local waterways.

www.unilock.com

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Johns Hopkins Starts Construction on New Residence Hall, Dining Facility

    The Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., recently began construction on a new residence hall and dining facility, according to university news. The work involves demolishing the existing Alumni Memorial Residence Hall I, which was built in 1923, to make room for the new facility.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Big Horn Academy

    Big Horn Academy

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Big Horn Academy has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.