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Local Design Firm teams up with TVCS
May 15, 2009

Local Design Firm teams up with TVCS to compete in International Classroom Design Competition

There is $50,000 up for grabs in an international classroom design competition and Emma Adkisson of Section Eight Design (S8D) in Victor has her sights set on it. Adkisson and partner, Nathan Gray, have been busy collaborating with students and faculty at the Teton Valley Community School (TVCS) to create smart, safe and sustainable learning spaces for their growing campus in Victor. The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge invites teachers, students and design professionals to work together to design the classroom of the future for their school. Winners will be announced this July and will receive money to build their classroom as well as the honor of seeing it replicated around the world.

This year's Open Architecture Challenge was created in response to a worldwide need for innovative classroom designs. According to the World Bank, educating all children worldwide will require the construction of 10 million new classrooms in more than 100 countries by 2015. At the same time, millions of existing classrooms are in serious need of repair and refurbishment. "By creating hundreds of locally appropriate and tangible solutions, we create a portfolio of designs for partners such as Orient Global to begin to scale globally", said Cameron Sinclair, Executive Director of Architecture for Humanity, the competition sponsor.

Shortly after learning about the classroom design competition, Adkisson met TVCS teacher Natasha Peterson at a dinner party. "We talked about the facility needs, philosophy and curriculum of the school, and I started envisioning really creative and flexible learning spaces unlike any classroom I had ever seen," said Adkisson. A shared excitement about sustainable designs, creative spaces, and student participation helped solidify the partnership.

A series of workshops were held with TVCS students and teachers in order to provide hands-on education in architectural design techniques and gain insight into the school's unique needs for learning spaces. The contest submission materials are due June 1st and will include a master site plan for the TVCS campus as well as detailed drawings and digital renditions of the classroom spaces. A short film on the student workshops produced by Trask McFarland of Arris Productions will also be included. A public slideshow presentation of S8D's submission package is planned for the evening of June 8th at the Wildwood Room in Victor.

Section Eight Design is a professional design firm based in Victor, Idaho that has a two part mission - design and education. "We want to provide design services to the community and we want to have the opportunity to educate the community," says Adkisson. She adds, "There are so many facets to community involvement and contribution that we would like to explore, it is very exciting." S8D envisions the classroom project as a prototype for the future of educational and community facilities in the region. The TVCS classrooms will become a tool for educating the students and community on how to build sensitively, efficiently, responsibly and sustainably.

TVCS is a non-profit independent school located in Victor, Idaho that currently serves preschool through 6th grade students. TVCS will be expanding to include 7th grade for the 2009-2010 school year and 8th grade for the 2010-2011 school year. The vision of TVCS is to inspire and nurture lifelong learners by providing a state of the art learning community.

End of Release

For more information on the classroom design competition see: www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/competitions/challenge/2009