The Bloom School (Senior Thesis)

Completed Spring 2023

Programs Used: Revit, Enscape, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Illustrator

Research Question: 

How can New England public elementary students benefit from nature-based design strategies within their indoor and outdoor classrooms?

Research Statement:

In recent years, the rise and fall of COVID-19 has forced many primary administrators to shift their focus to nature. Nature-based schools and programs have continued to stand as examples for traditional public primary schools looking to change directions. While immersing students within nature on a daily basis is ideal, many nature-based schools and programs, especially within the New England area, are limited to only conducting class within the warmer seasons. With this, there appears to be a gap between traditional public and nature-based learning programs. However, with a focus on biophilic design (or the “attempt to design environments consistent with our tendency to become affiliated with natural systems and processes”) as well as constructing indoor/outdoor/all-season classrooms, nature-based design can be achieved within many primary public school environments (Barbiero et al., 2022, para. 2). Thus through a design prototype of a nature-based elementary public school, we can start to close this gap.