Architectural design of the Waldorf school and kindergarten in Reno, Nevada (2019)

Conceptual Design of Waldorf school and Waldorf kindergarten in Reno, Nevada. The study was created in a participative way in close cooperation with school teachers. It is a preparation for a detailed project of the school campus. In the study of the whole campus, school staff verified the scope of the project and confirmed the entry for the next project phase. The aim is to implement the ecological structure of the school area with elements of organic sustainable architecture corresponding to the climatic conditions in Nevada. Direct strong summer sunlight and shorter snowy periods in winter help to shade, for example, roofed passages and roof overruns along buildings for designed structures. Green roof roofs also help to maintain a pleasant indoor temperature. The nature of the overall structure and morphology of buildings is supported by the principles of Waldorf pedagogy. For a more detailed description of the study creation and details, see the accompanying labels for pictures. The images are sorted as a story backward from the completed study to the beginning.

Link to information about the school campaign for the construction of the new School campus: “Nevada Sage Waldorf School, Acorns to Oaks Campaign-and Campaign to grow on”.

Link to the school website “Nevada Sage Waldorf School”.

Reference to the program of lectures by Oldřich Hozman during a stay at the Nevada Sage Waldorf School.

Conceptual Design of Waldorf school
Participative design of the model
Timelapse video from participative design of the model
Observing on the property

View of the Waldorf school from the southwest side. Organically shaped roofs correspond to the character of the surrounding landscape. In the middle we see the upper part, where there is a gym and a school hall. The lowered roof in the foreground, where the entrance to the school is, protects the south windows from summer overheating. — View of the campus from the southwest.

View of the Waldorf school from the west side. Organically shaped roofs correspond to the character of the surrounding landscape. In the middle we see the lowered part of the roofs, where the entrance to the complex is. — View of school areal from north.

Detail view of the roofs of the Waldorf school. View from the southwest side. Organically shaped roofs correspond to the character of the surrounding landscape. In the middle we see an elevated part in the background, where there is a gym and a school hall. The lowered roof in the foreground, where the entrance to the school is, protects the south windows from summer overheating. — Detail view of school roofs from the southwest.

Plan of the Waldorf school area. At the bottom left is an eight-class basic Waldorf school. At the top left are special classrooms such as music class, workshops classes, eurythmic classroom and classroom for outdoor learning. In the middle is the school office building. Above it is in the middle of the school garden. On the right is the nursery school area with two nursery classes with its own game garden..... — Plan of the Waldorf School and Waldorf nursery.....

Final variant of the floor plan of the ground floor of the Waldorf school. On the left are the lower grade classes. On the right are higher grade classes. In the middle of the top is a multi-purpose hall. Class shapes have a polygonal shape close to a hexagon with rounded corners. One of the reasons for these shapes is the improvement of acoustics in the classrooms. In the middle between the classrooms is a hallway with changing spaces (on walls). The whole floor plan is to the south in an arch and surrounds the inner courtyard of the school in the middle. — Ground floor plan of eight classes waldorf school.

Floor plan of six classes of a Waldorf kindergarten. At the top left are two classes of school nursery. On the left are two classes for children from 3 to 4 years. And on the right two classes for children under 6 years. The classes are arranged in a large U-shaped arc. Their shape closes the south-facing inner garden. Classroom´s shapes are very rounded. For very small children up to 6 years, these soft shapes and various nooks are suitable. It supports their psyche and softens the acoustics. — Floor plan of Waldorf kindergarten classes (final variant).

Floor plan of an office building. On the north side is the entrance hall with reception. The reception is located for security reasons so that it has a very good view of the main entrance to the entrance hall and the main entrance to the complex. On the southeast side (left) are the offices and the rest room for teachers. Up on the south and west sides are the school offices. In the middle is a storage and a room with a copier. The whole floor plan has the shape of a pentagon. — Ground floor plan of administrative building - last finished variation

Floor plan of the building of the special classrooms of the Waldorf school. On the left is the music classroom, in the middle are workshop classrooms (ceramics and wood workshop), on the right is the eurythmic hall and the outdoor classroom. The classes follow each other in an arch and thus close the inner courtyard of the school from the south side. In the courtyard there is a garden and an amphitheater. — Floor plan of the building of the special classrooms of the Waldorf school.

View of Waldorf basic School from the south side. On the left are lower grade classrooms. In the middle is the main entrance and in the background a multi-purpose hall. On the right are higher grade classrooms. The building has green roofs. — View on school building from south.

A view of the Waldorf ground school, a section with specialized classrooms from the south side. On the left is the eurythmia classroom. In the middle are two classes of workshops. To the right is the music classroom (hall). The building has green roofs. Shapes of the windows are softly rounded. — View of the school building of special classrooms.

Waldorf Kindergarten, view from the south side with a partial section of two classrooms. The organically shaped rounded architecture meets needs of the child in the first seven years period. The buildings have green roofs and roof overhangs over large windows. This helps shade the interior in the summer. — South view on waldorf kindergarten.

South facade of the administrative building of the Waldorf school campus. The ground floor has large windows with front doors. Windows and doors lead to a large entrance hall, where there is an exhibition of school work. The building has a green roof. All pupils come to school in the morning along this building. It is surrounded by covered passage where are nooks with benches for meetings. — View of the main entrance to the office building from the south side.

The floor plan of the Waldorf school shows one of the variants of the considered arrangement of classes and a multi-purpose hall. Next to the multi-purpose hall on the right is the octagonal hall of music education. On the right are the lower grade classes. On the left are higher grade classes. The building is rounded and on its south side surrounds an inner garden with a playground. — Variation of ground floor plan of waldorf school.

Ground floor plan of new waldorf kindergarten in Reno. — Ground floor plan of kindergarten (one of first layouts).

Ground floor plan of administrative building - first variation

Ground floor plan of administrative building in pentagonal shape. — Sacred geometry of administrative building.

Completed situation of the Waldorf school campus in Reno. At the bottom left is the eight-grade Waldorf Ground School. At the top left are special classrooms such as a music class, workshop classes, a eurythmic classroom and an outdoor classroom. In the middle is the school office building. In front of office building on the north side is the main entrance to the school and kindergarten. The office building is slightly sunk towards the garden. On the north side, this shift created a small recessed square in front of the main entrance. Above the office building is a school garden in the middle on the south side. To the right is the kindergarten complex with two nursery classes with its own play garden. There are access roads with parking lots and fire turning points around the complex. The ground school buildings have a garden with an amphitheater inside. It is a place for school cultural events but also a place supporting social life. The client's wish was to allow a meeting between parents who come to pick up their children in the afternoon… — Completed situation plan of the Waldorf school campus.

The final variant of the floor plan of the ground floor of the Waldorf ground school. On the left are the first grade classes. On the right are the second grade classes. In the middle of the top is a multi-purpose hall. Class shapes have a polygonal shape close to a hexagon with rounded corners. One of the reasons for these shapes is the improvement of acoustics in the classrooms. In the middle between the classrooms is a hallway (corridor). The main entrance to the school is from the south in the middle. The corridor is rugged, has various nooks with benches and also serves as a foyer during breaks when the program is in the hall. Among the classes are teachers' offices, toilets and storages. The third class has a connection with the kitchen for teaching cooking. This kitchen also serves a hall for providing refreshments. The whole floor plan is to the south in an arch and surrounds the inner courtyard of the school in the middle. — Completed floor plan of a Waldorf ground school.

Completed floor plan of the building of the special classrooms of the Waldorf school. On the left is a music classroom with a storage of musical instruments, in the middle is a classroom of workshops (ceramics and wood workshop), on the right is a eurythmic hall and an outdoor classroom. Between classes are storages and toilets. The entrance to each classrooms is from the north side from the covered outdoor passage. This passage forms an arcade lining the entire interior of the courtyard. In addition to communication and social purposes, the arcade also has the function of summer shading. In winter it protects against snow and over the year against rain. The classes of the special classrooms follow each other in an arch, thus closing the inner courtyard of the school to the north. In the courtyard there is a garden and an amphitheater. — Completed floor plan of special classrooms of the Waldorf school.

Completed floor plan of six classes of the Waldorf Kindergarten. At the top left are two classes for smallest children. On the left are two classes for children from 3 to 4 years. And on the right two classes for children under 6 years. The classes are arranged in a large U-shaped arc. Their shape closes the south-facing inner garden. Class shapes are rounded. For children up to 6 years are these soft shapes and various nooks very suitable. It supports their psyche, physical activities in a circle and softens the acoustics of rooms. In the middle between the classes there are rooms for teachers (office, kitchen, toilet and storage). — Completed floor plan of a Waldorf kindergarten.

Model was created together with teachers and parents during several workshops in May, June, July and August 2019. The architectural design of the Waldorf school and Kindergarten was formed by the method of participative design. Participatory design helped to find answers to the basic questions of the entire layout of the school campus. Joint work on the model ultimately led to a collective consensus over the award. A list of rooms and necessary spaces was created together before the work on the model was started. These were transferred on a specific scale to paper and cut out. With the cut-out rooms, the group moved around the prepared map and created the foundations of the shapes and orientations of buildings. Only then was the work with a ducted plasticel and the model began to emerge spatially. This method of artistically conceived participatory creation allows living organic shapes to occur. Just as the Waldorf pedagogy supports a free manifestation of an individual who consciously reflects his surroundings, participatory work is the expression of the collective spirit of the group. The following images are a story that captures the storyline of the emergence of models against the current time. From the finished model to the beginnings working on several variants of models to searching and preparing list of rooms.

Final presentation at the current Waldorf school in Reno. Models and an architectural study of the school campus are displayed on the tables. — Final presentation 8.8.2019

Final presentation of Oldřich Hozman at the school in Reno. Models and an architectural study of the school campus are displayed on tables. — Detailed presentation of the project during the final presentation.

View of the model from the south. On the left you can see the kindergarten classroom building. In the middle is an office building. On the right is the primary school complex and on the right in the foreground is a building with special classrooms. All classrooms have their main windows facing south and are overshadowed by roof overlaps against summer overheating. — View on finished model from south side.

View of the model from the north. On the right you can see the kindergarten classroom building. On the left is the primary school buildings, at the top left is a building with special classrooms. In the middle is an office building. In front of it is an area from which people and children enter the whole area. — View on finished model from north side.

View of the model from the west side. In the foreground you can see the kindergarten classroom building. It is all U-shaped and open to the south. The overall shape thus creates a protected garden for kindergarten classes. This arrangement and shape took place through gradual participatory work together with teachers and parents. — View on finished architectonic model from west side.

Protected kindergarten garden is surrounded by a building with the kindergarten's own classrooms. From the south, the garden is enclosed by a low fence with a gate, trees and bushes. Behind the fence to the south (right) is a group of small buildings. These are stables for small animals, which will be get care by lower grades pupils. Kindergarten children are close to them and can go to visit and feed them. — On the left is kindergarten, in the middle administrative building and the back main basic school complex.

View from the southeast to the inner courtyard of the school. In the courtyard on the right is a school amphitheater. It serves performing arts, lectures and also meetings of all members of school during warm days. It was also located here as a place that, with its shape and location in the heart of school buildings, will support social relations. Pupils can meet here for breaks. In the afternoon, this place will be open to parents so that they can meet here when they pick up their children from school. — View into inner yard of the school.

View from the southeast on the school buildings of special eurythmia classes and workshops. The classrooms have larger roof overlaps to the south, so that they are not overheated inside in summer. They have similar roof shapes like school building. In the foreground is a playground for children from 5 to 8 grade. It is quite large. It surrounds special classes building from the south and southeast side. The playground also includes elements for the experienced play of older children such as ropes, nets, beams, ladders or larger and higher groups of stones and stems. — View from the southeast on the school buildings of special eurythmia classes and workshops. The classrooms have larger roof overlaps to the south, so that they are not overheated inside in summer. They have similar roof shapes like school building. In the foreground is a playground for children from 5 to 8 grade.

View of the whole area from the southeast. Shapes and rhythm of the roofs create uniting style of forms throughout the complex. It is important for the creation of mood, such mood that affects the perception and feeling of children. Unifying soft style where one form passes into the other, supports the natural emergence of morality in the souls of observers. — View of the whole campus from the southeast. In the foreground is a hall (classroom) for teaching music.

View of the inner courtyard with amphitheater from the northwest. In the background are classes of special classrooms. To the left and right are higher classrooms - music and eurythmic hall. Among them are lower classrooms - carpentry and ceramics workshops. — Inner yard of the school with amphitheater.

Stables for small animals and storages for garden tools form a group of smaller wooden buildings. They are lined up in a slight arch, which from the north, where entrances are, creates a common garden space. There will be paddocks on the south side of these farm buildings. — View of stables for small animals and storages for garden tools.

Main entrances to the whole area are from the north side. Office building in the middle has the main entrance door under the arcade. Serves school staff and the public. The entrance for primary school children is through the arcade on the left side of the office building. The entrance for the kindergarten children is on the right through the arcade and leads them through the passage to their inner garden. — View of the facade and roof of the office building from the north side. In the arcade are main entrances to the whole campus.

On the west side between the school and the building of special classrooms is a side entrance from the covered passage. It is used as an exit to the field. The covered passage is deeper in this place. It also creates shaded space and meeting place in front of the main entrance to the music hall (left). — Covered passage on the west side between the school and the building of special classrooms.

The school vegetable and herb garden is on the south side of the administrative building between the school office building and the kindergarten. The garden area is divided by organically shaped flower beds. Near the terrace of the office building is a herb and flower garden. In the middle is a vegetable garden and on the very south side (in the foreground) there is an orchard. — School vegetable and herb garden.

The roof of each classroom and hall rises slightly to the south. Roofs have larger overlaps on the south sides, which provide shading. On the left there is building of special music classrooms, workshops and eurythmia. On the right side is the school building. In the background is an office building and behind in the back kindergarten building. — View of the organically shaped roofs of school classrooms and halls from the east.

When the model of the buildings was finished, we completed model details of gardens together with teachers and parents. On the right you can see the work on detailed division of the herb and vegetable garden. — Completing model details of the garden.

During modeling, we consciously created the shapes and sizes of parts of buildings so that they speak visibly about their content. In the foreground is the music hall, which is taller than the workshop classrooms on the left. On the right is the school building. The classrooms have roofs rising to the south. Roof overlaps and a covered passage on the ground floor overshadow the south windows to the classrooms. — A view of the processed model from the southeast.

In participatory modeling, the goal was for each individual roofs to follow each other smoothly. So that one roof passes into another. Where the roofs are lowered, they gradually disappear and merge with the adjoining wall or with another roof. Thus, in the organically shaped architecture, the etheric forces that the observer perceives and draws from them are excited. It also brings rhythm to the school's architecture, which is the basis for etheric quality.

Detailed work in shaping smoothness of kindergarten roofs. Where there is a classroom inside, a smooth elevation is visible on the roof. To the south, there are windows in the roofs with a roof overlap. Towards the inner garden, there is a covered passage (breezeway) that allows communication between the classrooms and shades the large south windows to the classrooms on the ground floor. — Detailed work on model of kindergarten roofs.

The southeast view shows the uniform character of the roof shapes. Forms of roofs gradually arose during participatory work on the model. They are inspired by the shapes of the hills near the city of Reno. With their rhythm, they also react and take into account the movement of the sun across the sky and its angle. So that the largest windows in the classrooms are shaded during the warm part of the day. — View on the model of the school from southeast.

Before participatory work on the model and before starting work on the architectural study, the plot was carefully examined and observed. Together with teachers and parents we perceived the cardinal points and the movement of the sun through the sky. We measured and stepped the land. Everyone drew on their map where they would place the start of the buildings from the boundary of the plot. We also modeled the shapes and reliefs of the surrounding mountains visible around the horizon. Thus the participants of the collective creation consciously became acquainted with the qualities of the land and its surroundings … so they entered the modeling proces with experience of the land.