What can the community expect as an end result?
DM: The first is an energized community with a high level of excitement about their project. Obviously, the other point is that you will have multiple design solutions to review and consider. Often there will be one concept or possibly a combination of concepts that resonate with people. That gives us a good jumpstart on the more detailed design process. It is beneficial for the client, because we get a lot of good ideas, and it also helps us. It clearly identifies many concerns at the very beginning of the project. JD: Why is it so important to involve the community and the students in the design of a school? DM: The building is theirs. Everyone should have an opportunity to contribute ideas to a facility in which they will live and work and, as I said, we get good ideas from these sessions. In one sense, it’s pretty self-serving. We get good feedback that only people who live and work in a community would be able to tell us. It might not be an architectural idea, but we find that bec
