CHAPTER 3

CASE STUDY

TOPIC: SCHOOL FOR THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED

DR. J. P. LORD SCHOOL  MARINDA ST, OMAHA, UNITED STATES

OVERVIEW:

P. Lord School in Omaha is a primary school established to serve students with a range of complex needs,
encompassing both intellectual and physical disabilities. Some are medically fragile, and some also have hearing,
vision, speech, or motor impairments. The school’s design ensures large open rooms with natural sunlight and bright,
vibrant colors. The design includes ‘‘sensory rooms” that can be tailored to students’ needs

This School is the home for the Multi-Handicapped Program, which serves students with multiple disabilities,
ages 5-21 years, in an environment that supports students’ educational, medical, and sensory needs. The
instructional program addresses the cognitive, communication, community, motor, self-help, social skills, and pre-
vocational domains. Because of the fragile condition of its students, the educational process at J.P. Lord is
intertwined with their medical care
CHALLENGES:

The existing J.P. Lord Elementary was an outdated building that no longer met the needs of the staff or
students. The existing school was plagued by small classrooms and insufficient storage for the equipment required by
each student (e.g., wheelchairs). Additionally, the building was dark and dull and did not provide the type of
stimulating environment that students required.

The design solution ensured that large open rooms with natural daylight and bright, vibrant colours were
incorporated. These students require extensive stimulation and custom methods of engagement. The design
established “sensory zones” and “sensory rooms” that can be tailored to stimulate students into interactions. With
the technology that is currently available, the new J.P. Lord School has the exciting potential to make a whole new
realm of possibilities a reality for its students.

 Furniture, colors, and materials used in a classroom at P. Lord School

  The height, air condition system, classroom zones, lighting, and ventilation in a classroom at P. Lord School

 The toilet is large (about 3 m X 3 m) at P. Lord School, suitable for architectural standards for intellectual
disability

TAKEAWAY/ FINDINGS FROM THE CASE STUDY

The 45,000-square-foot school features handicap accessible hallways and classrooms, multi-sensory

elements, a therapy pool and mobility devices throughout. The vision behind the school is so unique architects had a
hard time finding comparable projects. "It is a marker of our city's culture that we are building a brand new school
for these students," said Architect Bob Mabry.
J.P. Lord Serves students ages 5 to 21, with varying educational and physical needs. Parents, staff members
and special education experts were invited to weigh in on the final design. From the canopied drop-off lane to the
'sensory nooks' carved in the hallways, every element was thoughtfully chosen with the students' unique needs in
mind.
 CASE STUDY OF DEYANG SCHOOL FOR DEAF & INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED CHILDREN, CHINA.

OVERVIEW:

Deyang School for Deaf & Intellectually Disabled Children is a charitable educational institution, catering for
recruiting teens with speaking and hearing disabilities as well as intellectually disabled retarded pupils. The college
includes teaching, sports activities, and lodging facilities

Deyang School for Deaf & Intellectually Disabled Children is a charitable educational institution, recruiting
children with talking and hearing disabilities or mentally retarded pupils. The school includes teaching, sports and
accommodation facilities.
  Architects : China Southwest Architectural DesignResearch Institute Corp. Ltd

 Location : Deyang, Sichuan, China

 Architect in Charge : Liu Yi

 Design Team : Tang Minghao, Yang Jing, Huang Wei, Tang Rongping, Zou Min, Hu Dajian, Yao Yuan

 Area : 7998.0 sqm

 Project Year : 2012

SALIENT FEATURES:

 “Home” is as the prototype of the design, expressing the special concerns for the children in campus. The
ideas of sloped roofs and square windows are originally from children’s drawings, which refers to their
imaginations of homes that expressing the warmth and belonging from their hearts.

  By dividing the campus into small-scaled sloped-roof different-sized buildings around a central courtyard,
they form a miniature village.

 The rooms in each building are oriented towards the atrium that following the relationship of
‘Rooms’-‘atrium’-‘courtyard’ to create multi-level interactions between private and public spaces, which not
only respect the pupils mental needs but also their activity routines. Courtyard Large Number of Openings
Atrium
  The atriums, courtyards, as well as the different-sized windows provide various opportunities for those
special children to explore the world from different heights, inspiring them enhance the interactions with
each other and discover the surrounding world together, which helps developing intelligence better.
Architecture is becoming the tool of education. Spacious Corridor Large Window Large Openings Sky Light

TAKEAWAY/ FINDINGS FROM THE CASE STUDY

This study investigates the architectural design of classroom space for intellectually disabled students by
comparing the design specifications of primary-school classrooms for intellectually disabled and healthy students.
The architectural factors that must be considered in this context are: the layout of the classroom; flooring
materials; toilets; transition area; foldable furniture; insulation; ventilation; lighting; colours; and sunspace.  In
conclusion, after detailing the results obtained, the study provides key architectural strategies regarding the space
and environment of the classroom, covering furniture, adjacent toilets, colours and materials, form, lighting,
ventilation, and soft music.
OVERALL ANALYSIS:

This study has explored the effect of the architectural strategies of classrooms for intellectually disabled
students in schools regarding space and environment. The findings of the current study indicate that there are
significant architectural strategies for intellectually disabled students in schools that affect the space and
environment of their classrooms.

LIMITATIONS:

There was some difficulty in obtaining relevant references as most of previous studies in this area have
focused on the physical and psychological aspects of intellectually disabled students, without reference to
architectural considerations in their data. Therefore, we had to extract relevant information from medical and
architectural references for this study.

CONCLUSION:

This research has examined the architectural dimensions of the classroom design for intellectually disabled
students, attempting to develop a model an ideal classroom, based on architectural strategies, for intellectually
disabled students. As Architects and Designers we have to design and come out with an architectural solution by
combination of all the architectural and design factors that should be utilized within an ideal classroom for students
with intellectual disabilities. It can be summarized in terms of five broad strategies: furniture; adjacent toilets; colors
and materials; form; and lighting, ventilation, and soft music. Etc.