Casis Elementary Outdoor Learning

• In the winter of 2010, we donated architectural services to design an open-air outdoor classroom for Casis Elementary, a large public school in central Austin, to augment the school’s burgeoning organic garden program. The low-maintenance structure houses work-tables where up to forty students might work under shelter from sun and rain, along with storage for supplies and gardening equipment.

• The structure features a vine supporting enclosure made of 3/8” steel dowel, almost as if a child had wrapped the entire project in string. Although playful, the deciduous vegetation also functions to provide shade in hot months and sun in the winter. A rainwater collection system anchors the project, supplying water for the gardens while teaching lessons about environmental stewardship

• In the summer of 2012, we labored in the field with parents, architecture students from The University of Texas at Austin and friends in the construction community to deliver the project.