The Sustainable Middle School of Vancouver
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Abstract
There is a lack of awareness of what we are doing to our ecosystems and how we can reverse the trend of harmful practices that threaten our environment. Through education and observation, a more widespread movement of sustainability can be reached. My thesis project is a middle school that combines environmental and traditional education. The building itself educates by employing sustainable practices, and the teachers within educate by teaching ground breaking and classical sustainable practices. The site is in the center of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The site is centrally located within a variety of neighborhoods, economic and social backgrounds, amenities and parks. Having a site within a city is more practical and sustainable because of transportation, close amenities and the re-use of developed space. The site is 510,200 sf, which is more space than would be needed for a middle school, this is one of the reasons why I have chosen to include a Farm Sanctuary Program. The Farm Sanctuary program will use the space that the school does not, which will mainly consist of open field space for the rescued farm animals. The students will have a class where they work with the farm animals, this will be taught by a licensed veterinarian. The Farm Sanctuary program will teach the students companion and the necessity of other solutions for our food resources. Among this animal interaction class there will be gardening, an arts class, green technologies class and traditional middle school classes. These classes will be taught outdoors as frequently as possible and the school design will accommodate for this.