Halve It Component:

My design focuses heavily on the Environment pillar of our school framework.

• Environment is the surroundings in which an animal, person or thing lives or exists. For middle schoolers, (ages 10-14 years of age) as they move through adolescence, for students the environment means stronger relationships, reduced stress and anger and heighten curiosity.

   

Sustainable Development Goal:

SDG 15: Life on Land 

The Rainforest design meets SDG 15 (Life on Land) because it helps maintain middle schoolers relationships  and stress levels during their play/break times. By using natural play spaces such as vine domes and gardens, students will look forward to going out to lunch to play in the rainforest.

School Context:

If you look closely at our new campus (Brown and Jolly) there is a big problem: it is concrete, brick, tar and wood. Brown and Jolly is a non-natural brick box with no nature whatsoever (not for long….).

During recess and lunch, students are completely surrounded by spaces that do not support energy bursts or natural spaces for a break of the straight, boring lines. What Brown and Jolly needs is a rainforest, a place to let out your stress and relax with your friends. Research shows that kids with nature in their school helps them to be focused and build healthier relationships during their breaks. 24% of schools provide time for students to go out into natural spaces and 56% of secondary schools said they don’t offer any outdoor learning to any pupils. Nature is a key element of a calm and healthy school.

Liveability:
My design heavily focuses on how nature increases belonging, behavior and relationships. Research shows that students are more likely to be involved in work after having a break out in nature. 80%of parents want  their children to be having more outdoor play. Children who grew up with limited access to green space face up to a 55% higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders later in life.

By creating a rainforest at Brown and Jolly, the kids will be more engaged and have stronger relationships, while also reducing the level of stress and anxiety from work and homework. The rainforest will have spaces to hang with their friends and with other children that they usually won't hang with. My design will enhance the livability of the Middle school students (ages 9-14years of age).

Blue Zones:
People in places like Okinawa in Japan and California in North America are just two of the five known places around the world to live the longest; these are called Blue Sones. People in the Blue Zones are often connected to nature and their community.  In these Blue Zones people live up to 90 to 100 plus years old. A key feature of these Blue Zones is spending time in nature, which this rainforest will provide the opportunity for. 

Hundertwasser:
Hundertwasser believed that ‘Tree Tenants Are the Ambassadors of the Free Forests in the City’. Hundentwasser created a philosophy called the Five Skins. The Five Skins refers to a philosophical concept developed by the Austrian artist, architect, and environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It visualises the individual's relationship with the world as five concentric layers of protection and interaction, ranging from intimate physical space to the global ecosystem. The first one is The epidermis ( The epidermis is the thin, outermost layer of the skin in humans and animals.). The second is the clothes ( what you wear). The third is the house (where you live.). The fourth is the identity (how you present yourself to the world.) and the fifth is the Global environment (the interconnected natural and human-made systems that exist across the world ).

How do we design a rainforest that helps students lower their stress levels and build stronger relationships with nature?

The design solution is the Rainforest. The rainforest should  be located in the back section of the Brown and Jolly building with a space roughly eight by eight meters. The rainforest is going to replace an ugly dirt pit with a beautiful place for students to hang out.

The rainforest will feature two vine domes covered with wisteria. Inside the domes there will be curved recycled timber seats and tables that students can sit at with their friends and eat their lunches . It will also have some trees such as Wisteria Alba and  Callistemon pink champagne. As well as trees there will be low growing plants like English Daisy, Grecian Windflower and Rock Soapwort.

The layout of the rainforest will have the two domes two meters away from each other at the far end of the Rainforest, with pebble path ways that connect to the recycled timber deck on the opposite side of the domes. There will be gardens on each side of the paths with plants that suit the area and light (sun, rain, ect).

When a student walks into the Rainforest, they will instantly feel calm and connected to the ground with the soft white flowers and the bright purples. They will want to sit in the vine domes and eat their lunch, students will want to eat their lunch in school because they have a nice place to eat.

Furthermore, to ensure the rainforest is completely sustainable, we will ensure that we use upcycled and recycled materials from other projects that have been completed and will use leftover materials.