LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/107181
Above About 940 square feet of road pavers were transplanted from West 30th Street and reused in a concentric running bond in the atrium, which also features new benches, drainage and shade trees planted in structural soil under stabilized aggregate. The circular seating area focuses on a six-foot diameter St. Ignatius sandstone seal. St. Ignatius High School, in the urban heart of Cleveland, Ohio, has served as a leading Jesuit college preparatory high school for boys for over 125 years. In the early 1980's, the high school vacated West 30th Street, dividing the campus and creating a pedestrian mall down the center. Over time, the space was fractured by a variety of building projects, and safety, drainage, and maintenance issues developed. Area lighting was uneven, heavy pedestrian traffic turned planting beds into mud, and students commonly referred to the "river" in the middle of the courtyard that they had to cross to reach a building's door. Even the salvageable portions of West 30th street were uneven, and did not meet ADA requirements. Several exterior building basement walls needed waterproofing, and a 110-year old 12-inch water main threatened to wreak havoc on the school's operations if it broke. 58 Landscape Architect and Specifier News Behnke Associates was commissioned to address these issues, while maintaining the intimate park setting beloved by students, staff, and the local neighborhood. During the master planning phase, existing circulation routes, gathering spaces, vegetation, paving materials, signage, drainage, and utilities were analyzed for what worked, and what needed to be improved. Design The school administration and Behnke's design team collaborated on design goals for the mall renovation. The final concept specified a clean, unified look that matched the rest of the campus; providing for efficient pedestrian flow, with no sharp corners on the pavement edges; a sense of arrival for the mall entry, mall core and building entrances; gathering spaces for small or large groups of students, staff or visitors; an increased sense of safety; reuse of the West 30th Street