Dickinson + Partners along with DLR Group completed a comprehensive master plan for the 200-acre campus of Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, as part of the overall Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind projects. Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, a day school enrolling students in grades K through 12. The Master Plan study focused on academics, student life, and athletics. In determining possible sites for new buildings, the planning team considered the impact on school culture and traditions, proximity to associated uses, and impact on campus vistas and landscape. Recommendations included improvements for vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, campus beautification, and place-making.
Dickinson + Partners evaluated the need for a new middle and high school to provide special amenities and school-wide community space nearer senior academic staff, the dining hall and the library. The planning team recommended special accommodations for day students, including new bus drop off, outdoor study space, community outreach; and the relocation of pedestrian site entrance to encourage greater interaction. Viewed as a gathering place where all members of the school family could congregate, the site entrance concept calls for a landscaped terrace with seating and decorative spaces adjacent to the student commons area, encouraging students and faculty to gather outdoors as well as indoors.
