OLD GYM PRE-PROGRAMMMING WORKSHOP 5/29/2001

(The "hardcopy" version of this summary is more complete. The most useful valuable item not included here are the six paste-up plans devised by the six workshop subgroups. Electronic conversion by B. Wicinas.)

OLD GYM PRE-PROGRAMMING WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Old Gym Preprogramming Workshop May 29, 2001

Berkeley High School
Berkeley, California

Published: June 20, 2001
Facilitated by ELS Architects
with Henry Sanoff, FAIA

ELS Architects
2040 Addison Street
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 54902929

Table of Contents

List of Participants
Summary of Process
List of Campus Wide Needs
List of Old Gym Needs
Small group concept statements and paste-up plans	(see published version for plans)
Appendix A: Workshop photos	(see published version)
Appendix B: Surveys	(see published version)
Appendix C: Old Gym existing plans	(see published version)
Appendix D: Facilitators Background	(see published version)

FACILITATORS

Henry Sanoff, FAIA: Lead Facilitator
ELS Architecture: David Petta, AIA, Dorit Fromm, AIA, David Hruska, AIA, Deanna Niebuhr

PARTICIPANTS

Berkeley High School: Charna Ball, Rory Bled, Judy Bodenhausen, Mary Lee Carey, Magi Discoe, Bill Gabler, Philippe Henri, Michele Jannsen, Lary Lee, Frank Lynch, Flora Russ, Kimi Sakashita, Anna Staff, Mary Ann Valles, Benette Williams
Community Representatives for the Pool Facility Renovation: Fred Lupke, Josephine Arasteh, Helen Petrash, Mark Hendrix
BUSD Construction Oversight Committee: Bruce Wicinas, Jim Hallam

INVITED TO OBSERVE

Akol & Yoshii Architects (the firm selected for the Old Gym rennovation): Nil Schaps, Susana DeTrepaga, Levent Aksin

INTRODUCTION

The main purpose of this pre-programming effort was to help both the faculty and the design architects in planning for the Old Gym, a historic building on the Berkeley High School Campus soon to undergo renovation. A broader goal was to engage the school community in beginning to work together on a design process that goes beyond this one building. Participants were encouraged to speak up, question and work issues out through the direct experience of deciding and fitting spaces. Through the workshop experience, participants learned from each other about the reasons for space needs, about adjacencies and about the realities and constraints of an actual floor plan.

PLANNING

Berkeley Architects ELS teamed with Henry Sanoff, FAIA, an internationally experienced education facilitator who has written extensively on designing responsive schools. The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) engaged the team on May 9 to provide Pre-Programming Services for the Old Gym. These services were to be completed by June 20 in order to provide the design architects for the Old Gym Renovation sufficient information to begin Design Services, including completion of programming. An important by-product of the Pre-Programming Services was to be a list of all-campus space needs, of which only a portion could be located in the Old Gym.

Due to the short time frame, the research and investigation phase was limited to distribution of a short survey form. No interviews were conducted. On May 18, 2001, Frank Lynch, Berkeley High Principal, and Dan Eggen, Project Manager of URS Construction Services, distributed surveys to directors of the following academic and athletic departments. At the same time this group was invited to attend a workshop on May 29 to begin to shape the Old Gym Program.

The survey requested a complete list of perceived space needs for each department or group, and a rationale for the need. In addition, each respondent was requested to indicate which of the needs, in its opinion, could be satisfied by space in the Old Gym.

The 12 survey forms that were returned are included in Appendix B. A limited amount of clarifications were requested in follow-up telephone calls, and all requested space needs were listed on a single page, titled Survey Summary.

SURVEY

A survey was distributed to all school departments requesting a comprehensive list of all space needs, whether or not these could be satisfied by space in the Old Gym. Surveys were also distributed to City of Berkeley and community representatives concerned with Warm Water Pool (“Measure R”) issues. The page immediately following, titled “Survey Results” summarizes all of the space needs contained in survey responses. No space needs listed in survey responses were omitted, and none were added. In the cases where separate suveys listed different size requirement for the same space need, the greater size is indicated. All surveys are included in Appendix B.

Survey Respondents
Health Center – Kimi Sakashita
Science Department – Magi Discoe
Maintenance – (unsigned)
Physical Education (PE), Athletics and Dance – Mary Lee Carey
Adaptive Physical Education (APE) – Charna Bell, Anna Staff
English Language Learners (ELL) – (unsigned)
Afro-Haitian Dance – Miriam Stahl
City of Berkeley Community Services – Don Coykendell, Dean Fukawa
Measure R Community – Fred Lupke, Terry Cochrell

Survey Distribution

History	Small Learning Communities
English	Special Education
Math	Adaptive P.E.
Science	Administration
Foreign Language	Counselors
African American Studies	Security
Computers	Maintenance
Performing Arts	Classified (Clerical)
Visual Arts	Custodial
P.E.	Health Center
Athletics	Measure “R” Community
ELL	Measure “R” City of Berkeley

WORKSHOP

A workshop was conducted on May 29, 2001, to review the survey results, and to begin to come to consensus on which needs should be satisfied by space in the Old Gym. All who received the survey were invited to attend the workshop. The page immediately following, titled “Preliminary Old Gym Program” summarizes the results of the small group workshop. Absolute consensus was not reached on which needs should be included in the Old Gym program, and there is still work to be done to trim the preliminary program down to fit the available space. However, consensus was reached on which spaces should not be included. No space needs recommended for inclusion by any single small group have been omitted from thte Preliminary Program, and none have been added, except as noted. In the cases where separate small groups recommended different sizes for the same space need, a range of size is indicated.

Workshop Participants
Health Center – Kimi Sakashita
Science Department – Magi Discoe
Physical Education (PE), Athletics and Dance – Bill Gabler, Mary Lee Carey
Adaptive Physical Education (APE) – Charna Bell, Anna Staff
Administration – Larry Lee, Frank Lynch, Benette Williams, Michele Jannsen, Mary Ann Valles
Math Department – Philippe Henri
Child Care Progarm – Flora Russ
English Language Learners – Judy Bodenhausen
Measure R Community – Fred Lupke, Josephine Arasteh, Helen Petrash, Mark Hendrix
BUSD Construction Oversight Committee – Bruce Wicinis, Jim Hallam

Invited to Participate

History	Small Learning Communities
English	Special Education
Math	Adaptive P.E.
Science	Administration
Foreign Language	Counselors
African American Studies	Security
Computers	Maintenance
Performing Arts	Classified (Clerical)
Visual Arts	Custodial
P.E.	Health Center
Athletics	Measure “R” Community
ELL	Measure “R” City of Berkeley

THE WORKSHOP

The workshop was held on May 29th at the Old Gym. The meeting space was an important factor that contributed to the workshop, both because participants could go look at the spaces themselves when under discussion, and because the large gym space allowed all participants to be together, facilitating dialogues on the numerous options.

Roughly 21 people participated in the workshop, along with representatives from ELS Architects. The activities were group focused, and the participants were divided into small groups of 3-4 each, working together on one large table. On each table:

one 30” X 40” plan of the first and second floor of the existing Old Gym, plus extra space in a mezzanine, not now existing in the building.
a list of spaces tabulated from the survey, plus their square footage
yellow sheets with all those spaces drawn at 1/16” scale, plus extra blank spaces for uses not listed
several pairs of scissors to cut out the selected spaces
glue to tack them onto the large plan
a tabulation sheet to add up the spaces chosen, up to the total allowable square footage (reduced by 30% for circulation).
Existing plans of the Old Gym were mounted on boards and displayed at the front of the room.

Groups were asked to decide which spaces from the Survey Summary should be located in the Old Gym, using paper shapes and blank floor plans of the existing first and second floors, and a plan of an assumed future mezzanine. Each group could decide on whether to include classroom spaces and their groupings (Berkeley High was one of the Bay Area schools to receive national funding to consider the concept of smaller school communities, and groups could decide to address this in their plans).
As questions arose about the various individual space needs, the groups consulted with other groups, the facilitator and consultant team to provide working answers. Photographs and notes were taken of the process.
At the conclusion of the workshop, each group presented its work: the spaces to be located on each floor; the rationale used; and important conclusions regarding location, compatibilities and adjacencies. In the following section the campus wide space needs contained on the surveys, the space needs to be located in the Old Gym, and the plans that were created by the groups have been reproduced, along with a summary of each group’s rationale.
Given more time, more surveys could have been collected, and interviews would have preceded the workshop to clarify the rationale for each space, and achieve a more precise understanding of what exactly goes on in the Old Gym at present.

NEXT STEP

Given the time frame, and in order to get the Old Gym design process started, the next step now is to finalize the uses that should be provided in the Old Gym, and the appropriate size. The next steps for the designers will be to finalize the size of each space, the adjacencies, and the important features of each space, and whether a mezzanine is feasible.

By working with the District and the departments requesting the major share of Old Gym space, as well as other users, sharing and honing down the space requirements could result in a greater total number of needs being satisfied. However, if a mezzanine is not feasible, then fewer needs will be met -- particulary classrooms.

On June 12th, two weeks after the facilitated workshop, another meeting was held to summarize the findings from the workshop and to present a draft of this Pre-Programming Report. ELS handed out copies to those at the meeting and provided extra copies to be handed out to faculty who could not attend, requesting that comments, corrections and changes be made by the end of the week (June 15th /end of term). Those changes and additions are reflected in this final report. An addendum to this report will be added for comments and changes received in the next 2-3 weeks.

PRELIMINARY CAMPUS WIDE NEEDS NOT FULLY SATISFIED IN THE OLD GYM WORKSHOP

The following list represents those all-campus needs identified in the Survey, Workshop and follow-up meeting that are not fully met or very nearly approximated by the Old Gym Prelimary Program, at the low end of the recommended area range. This information is preliminary, and is not based on in-depth interviews, field investigations, or research by the facilitating team. These numbers will increase if a mezzanine is not feasible within the Old Gym.

SPACE NEED	Survey Request Maximum	Old Gym Preprogram Minimum	Maximum Unmet
Custodial/Maintenance	2900	1,500	1,400
Classrooms (9 at 900 sf ea)	24300	16,200	8,100
Teachers Lounge/Lockers	2500	500	2,000
Teachers Offices	1400	400	1,000
Campus Book Storage	3000	600	2,400
On-Campus Suspension Room	600	0	600
Coomputer Programming Room	*	0	*
Computer Lab	*	0	*
Testing Center	*	0	*
Language Lab	*	0	*
Leadership Room	*	0	*
Vocational Education	*	0	*
Small Learning Communities**	*	0	*

* These needs were raised without specific area requests, and will need further in-depth study to program
**Small Learning Community space needs may be partially satisfied by additional classrooms.

SMALL GROUP WORK
May 29, 2001 Workshop

At the May 29 workshop, six small groups of three to four people each were formed at random. Some groups contained representatives from a single department only, while others included several departments. Groups were asked to decide which spaces from the Survey Summary should be located in the Old Gym, using paper shapes and blank floor plans of the existing first and second floors, and a plan of an assumed future mezzanine.

At the conclusion of the workshop, each group presented its work: the spaces to be located on each floor; the rationale used; and important conclusions regarding location, compatibilities and adjacencies.

The following photographs (see published version) and notes were taken during this process.

Workshop Group 1: Larry Lee, Michele Jannsen, Mary Ann Valles

Concept Summary:

The main emphasis for this group was on program need, acoustical separation for noisy programs and addressing security/vandalism concerns through building access zones from campus and from the street entry points.
Noise generating program space such as gym, dance and aerobic activities should be located above or adjacent to less acoustically sensitive areas such as locker rooms and storage areas.
Health Center and campus book storage should be located at first floor ground level for flexible access before and after the typical school hours. Locating book storage at first floor adjacent to the Bancroft right-of-way allows convenient access for deliveries.
The APE locker rooms are designated to be shared with the Warm Water Pool users group. This should be verified in future programming sessions.
Security Issues – Warm water pool program and Health Center should be accessible after hours without compromising the security of the remainder of the building.
Classrooms and office spaces are located on the future mezzanine where upper level areas have not been dedicated to athletic programs requiring the existing high ceilings.
This group stated that the “smaller schools” concept required smaller separated class spaces. This was why classrooms with offices are separated on the mezzanine to the right and left of the high ceiling (for the gym on the second floor).
If an ELL small learning community were to be created, then they would be located on the second floor to the right.

Workshop Group 2: Judy Bodenhausen, Magi Discoe, Kimi Sakashita

Concept Summary:

Main emphasis on providing maximum number of classroom and teaching staff office/work space, and providing an easily accessible Health Center. They stated that every teacher should have a classroom.
Functions already on first floor, for the most part, remained. Adaptive PE next to therapeutic pool.
Health Center is shown on lower level which works well with after hours street access and the lower ceiling height and structural grid.
ELL space also shown on first floor at NE corner. Program was placed here to take advantage of ground level access for both students and parents. It was noted that this was the best location in the Old Gym for this space, but optimally the program should be located more centrally on campus.
Majority of Second Floor and Mezzanine area is shown as classroom area except for high bay area at North end shown as gymnasium dance and aerobic program space.

(A need for a central bookroom was discussed, that Berkeley High loses $50,000 or more each year because of textbooks and that such a space could be included in the Old Gym).

Workshop Group 3: Philippe Henri, Jim Hallam, Flora Russ

Concept Summary:

Main emphasis on acoustic separation between program areas and striking a balance between after-hours access and security issues within the Old Gym.
Gym, Dance and Aerobic programs are located at the south end of the Second Floor high bay area above athletic locker rooms, etc., located at the First Floor south end..
Classrooms are clustered at the North end of the upper level and new mezzanine, placing them closer to the center of Campus for ease of student circulation.
Book Storage located at First Floor outside of the existing building footprint between the ‘Old Gym’ and Donohue Gym.

Workshop Group 4: Frank Lynch, Benette Williams, Mark Hendrix, Bruce Wicinas, Rory Bled

Concept Summary:

Main emphasis on locating classroom spaces at North end of Old Gym at all floor levels in order to be closest to center of campus for ease of access.
Group noisier functions together or around less sound sensitive functions, and towards the south end
Classes located to the north.
Locate areas to the South end of the building which don’t require adjacency to rest of campus such as non-academic areas.
Street access to Health Center on north corner.
Try to locate storage and support spaces which don’t require natural light to interior of plan.
Both existing pool spaces are still required, in addition to new pool being constructed in New Milvia Street buildings project.
The warm water changing room needs a lot of space.

(Mark explained a misconception of the group about the water temperatures of the two pools, at 92 deg. for the warm pool and 86 deg. for the “cold” pool. He also explained the different user groups with disabilities who make use of these two different pools.)

Workshop Group 5: Charna Ball, Mary Lee Carey, Anna Staff, Bill Gabler

Concept Summary:

Offices and training on first floor, with classrooms on second and third floor at south end of building.
Locate the APE and Warm Water Pool Users Locker Room areas near pool areas. Explore combining shared use change and locker room areas for both of these groups. Include Family Changing Room for assisted changing as well.
APE program concerned about working around existing structure with support pillars, ceiling height and light fixtures in existing first floor.
APE requires natural light for program areas. Would like to stay in present location at SE corner of first floor if structure etc. can be worked out.
APE needs separate gym/activity space from general P.E. gym space. The APE gym space was moved to the old PE office space to avoid pillars.
Health Center to be located in a separate building.
Locate P.E. activity areas at north end of building to relate to new P.E. activities in new Milvia Street Building currently under construction.

(Charna explained that Adaptive PE serves the entire district, they require an office for autistic students. Adaptive PE space can be shared, but their storage, office and spaces for the severly disabled cannot be shared. The APE program is not connected with Health Center program and does not require adjacency).

Workshop Group 6: Fred Lupke, Josephine Arasteh, Helen Petrash

Concept Summary:

This group was concerned with how to integrate some uses, separate others and provide security for the various pool user groups.
Provide a real separate entry to warm water pool areas, not directly onto pool deck as occurs at present.
Provide separation between general student population and Warm Water Pool users for site access, Locker Rooms and Pool use. Possible joint use with APE program.