The Nueva School's campus design models sustainable principles through its educational spaces. Design elements dovetail with the school's curriculum by creating outdoor environments for children to engage with processes of the local ecosystem. The project is situated at the top of a slope with views to the bay beyond. Adjacent to the site, mature woodlands are laced with trails that extend the school`s learning environment. The designers aimed to take advantage of this adjacency both by referencing local flora in the material palette and by working diligently to preserve a majestic heritage oak as an anchor of the new campus center. The design team undertook a detailed analysis of the topography, microclimate and ecology to site the buildings within the larger landscape. Architect and landscape architect collaborated in the design of berms planted with native grasses and green roofs that cover the library and student center, offering over 10,000 square feet of new habitat for indigenous species. Processes of storm water are central to the life of the new plaza and the guiding principles of the design.
