School Description
Whittier Elementary is located at 2480 Downing Street along the southern edge of the Whittier neighborhood. Whittier’s first sub division, the Case addition, was filed right after the Civil war in 1868 making the neighborhood at 132 years old, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Denver. It is diverse in both its ethnic and economic makeup and has been racially mixed for over 100 years.
Learning Landscapes Description
Whittier’s site, almost too large for the current school enrollment, was both an opportunity and a challenge to the plan.
Whittier ECE-8 School
Construction Date
April 2005
Landscape Architect
GPD Land Design
Play Equipment Vendor
Rocky Mountain Recreation
School Garden Sponsor
Denver Urban Gardens
Slow Food Denver
Community Garden
Master Plan
Vision
The goals of the landscape plan are to incorporate the needs and desires of the primary users, the children and faculty of the Whittier Elementary School, as they have been learned through the process of personal interviews, on site observations and a pictoral survey.
Goals
- Provide the students with a primary and secondary play structure.
- Provide an area for a soccer field.
- Provide a pavillion or another play structure.
- Provide the students with a gardenMake the site a Learning Landscape.
- Re-establish Marion Street as a pedestrian thoroughfare and connection to the community.
- Create a sense of pride and ownership among members of the community.
- Establish signage or a similar means along historic Marion Street walkway to highlight the history of the Whittier neighborhood.
Design Development
Illustrative Drawing
Design Development Drawings
Presentation Boards
Construction Documentation
