The Grove

Hurricane Helene hit Florida’s Big Bend on September 27, 2024, as a Category 4 hurricane. The storm was the deadliest to hit the continental United States since Katrina in 2005. In the wake of the disaster, student homelessness exploded across the region. In Yancey County alone, the number of homeless students jumped 433% in one school year. Across six states schools were shuttered and the lives of children were upended by evacuations and displacement. Long after the media coverage had left, lasting trauma and academic struggles showed that children still feel the impact.

The Grove is a community built gathering pavilion created by and for students in response to that disruption. It is a space rooted in healing. Every wall is picked up by hand, each fabric panel is a canvas to draw on, write on, claim. It does not instruct students how to use the building. Students are the anchor of this space, and their agency is what determines what it becomes.

The slat walls open when students want air and close when they need protection from the weather. The green roof helps with sustainability and gives back to the land the building sits on. The fabric panels can work as walls, a canvas, a movie screen, and a shelter. The whole building is designed around giving students control over their environment.

Beyond the school day, the long term goal for The Grove is to become a real community healing space for teenagers in Tallahassee. A place where student agency drives everything, from the events that get hosted to the way the space gets used day to day. Somewhere students and teens can come to hang out, gather, and just be together in a space that is safe and belongs to them. That consistency and routine of having a place to return to matters, especially for young people who are still healing from disruption. There are not many spaces designed specifically with young people in mind, and that is exactly what The Grove is meant to be.

Site

The site resides in Tallahassee, Florida and sits walkable from Elizabeth Cobb Middle School and accessible by multiple StarMetro routes.

I start every project with a mood board. It sets the tone before any design decisions are made and gives the work a visual direction to return to throughout the process.

Shown here are three sketches from this iteration of the design: the floor plan, a study of the canvas wall system, and a final color sketch of the completed concept.

I started 3D design in Tinkercad because it is one of the quickest ways to get an idea out of your head and into three dimensional space. I used it to test several different shapes and interior configurations, exploring how the layout and form of the space changed the way it felt to be inside it. After working through a number of options I chose the octagon. It strikes the right balance with enough sides to create distinct zones, varied entries, and flexible wall configurations. Having defined walls is also important from a trauma informed design perspective. People naturally feel safer when they have something behind them, and the octagon gives students the option to sit with their back to a wall if they need that sense of security. At the same time the open center of the space means students who want to be part of the community and gather together still have that choice. The octagon does not force either, it just makes both possible.

The fabric panels are the part of this design that required the most thought. They are the most important feature in the whole space and everything else in The Grove is built around them.

The panels are lifted and lowered by a simple pulley system with no electricity or technology involved. When they are up, the pavilion opens to the outside. When they are down, the slat construction still lets air through without fully closing students off from the environment around them. The surface of each panel can be drawn on, written on, or used however a student needs to use it.

Because Tallahassee's wind changes direction every season, students can choose which walls to raise and which to leave down depending on the weather. That level of control is important. After going through something like a hurricane, being able to physically change your environment, even in a small way, matters.

These are the final Revit models for The Grove. They show the exterior form of the octagonal pavilion and the interior layout, bringing together all of the design decisions made throughout this process into a complete architectural model.

These are the final renderings for The Grove. Shown from similar viewpoints as the Revit models, they go beyond the technical drawings to show the full extent of what the space can be.

7 Principles of Universal Design

1. Equitable Use: Two staircases and two ramps mean every user can enter from any side of the building.
2. Flexibility in Use: Every space is inherently flexible in its design and meaning of use, from the canvas walls to the central meeting space, to the green roof.
3. Simple and Intuitive Use: The pulley system needs no instructions, if you can pull a rope you can use it.
4. Perceptible Information: There is no inherent front door and no signs telling you where to go.
5. Tolerance for Error: The walls can be adjusted at any time and there is no wrong configuration.
6. Low Physical Effort: The counterweight system means lifting a wall panel takes minimal force, so anyone who has use of their arms can lift them.
7. Size and Space for Approach and Use: The open center and multiple entries mean there is always room to move, gather, or leave.

Trauma Informed Design

1. Safety: Slat walls close for shelter without cutting students off from the outside completely.
2. Trustworthiness and Transparency: There are no hidden spaces, no complicated layout, and room for students to be trusted with flexibility.
3. Peer Support: The conversation pits and kitchen are specifically designed for students to come together and be there for each other.
4. Collaboration and Mutuality: The space was designed with student input and is meant to be built by the community.
5. Empowerment and Voice: Students decide which walls go up, what gets painted, and how the space gets used.
6. Choice: There is no assigned seating, no front door, no prescribed use, and more than one staircase or ramp. The Grove is designed so every decision belongs to the student.
7. Equity: The round form puts no seat above another and every entry is equally accessible.
8. Community: The amphitheater and communal zones are built for events and gatherings that bring people together.
9. Comfort: The cozy zone gives students a place to pull back from the larger space when they need to take a break.
10. Movement: Multiple entries, an open floor plan, and roof access give students freedom to move however they need or want.
11. Play: The green roof and open deck support unstructured time, students can just be there without an agenda.

ADA

1. Ramps on two sides provide full wheelchair access to the deck and interior
2. Grab rail at the roof hatch supports safe access to the green roof
3. The open floor plan removes barriers to navigation for all users

Here is the link to a walkthrough of The Grove

Universal Design 101 - Rick Hansen Foundation

TiD Principles - 11 domains - Trauma Informed Design Society

Trauma-informed Design: A Framework for Designers, Architects and other Practitioners, First Edition 2024, Cowart, C. Et Al

Architecture of Healing, Bassetti Architects

Interview with Janet Roche about Trauma Informed Design - Janet Roche, Co-Founder and CEO of Trauma-informed Design Society and host of Inclusive Designers Podcast

Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act - ADA.gov