Projects  ›  

The Cornerstone School

Education Philosophy Shapes A Landscape

As a Montessori program, the Cornerstone School is a leader in supporting the role of nature in enhancing the learning process of children. Increasing sensory stimulation and discovery from exposing kids to nature has many proven attributes. The Cornerstone School also has excellent staff, faculty, and exceptional grounds to extend the curriculum into the surrounding wild meadows. When TfLA was hired, the bucolic campus was unstructured and had problematic circulation issues that only a landscape renovation could address. But first we had to learn about how the place was used.

During the site analysis portion of design work at Cornerstone I had the mind-opening opportunity to observe kids at play. Ball play, free-form play, and wildlife debates about birds and worms were witnessed. All of which altered my perception of what was possible at this site, this school, and with these engaged students.

The TfLA Master Plan restructured and re-organized many landscape elements around age specific activities. The design goal of separating the movements of the older kids from the toddlers led to the design of a water feature that could be shared by all ages. This serpentine water element achieved more than that--it captured the imaginations of the kids. This one piece of functional site sculpture allowed the restructuring of the all other landscape spaces to flow easily and naturally into place.

Landscape Contractor: Dan Provost Landscape, South Hampton, NH

Concrete Work: Mike Littlefield, Polished Concrete, North Berwick, ME

Click on any thumbnail for a larger view.