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Community wants Pollard design to teach: sensors, visible systems and curriculum integration
Summary
Workshop groups recommended designing Pollard as a living lab — exposing systems, placing sensors and integrating building performance into classroom curriculum and storytelling.
Multiple table reports urged the Pollard design to be intentionally educational: to expose systems, collect and display data and integrate building performance into classroom curricula.
Participants suggested architectural strategies such as glassed‑in mechanical components, visible rainwater features, interpretive signage and sensors that feed classroom displays. One participant proposed placing a small, observable demonstration (for example, a rainwater comparison or a small green roof plot) so students can directly see how different systems affect runoff and water quality. Another group suggested classroom‑level sensors for CO2 and air quality that could be incorporated into daily lessons and shared with families.
Several speakers framed this approach as a way to make sustainability palpable for students and the broader community: “have the building tell its story,” in the words of a workshop participant. Groups also recommended documenting design choices and costs so the project’s process could be used as a teaching tool and a template for future town projects.
Designers said the concept of a building as a curriculum tool will be considered as the team develops the educational program and owner’s project requirements during schematic design.
