Master Planning Update 01.09.13

Over the past few months our Core Team has been plugging away, focused on getting a site plan ready for final review by the Waitsfield Development Review Board. We are hoping to go back for the first meeting in February. In getting ready for that presentation, here's an overview of where we are at this point.

Yestermorrow Design/Build School Campus Master Plan

Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsfield, Vermont teaches over 120 hands-on workshops, certificate programs and semester programs in sustainable design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft. The intensive, hands-on courses are taught by top architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country for people of all ages and experience levels, from novice to professional.

Yestermorrow currently employs 10 FTE staff and over 150 instructors. Short courses and certificate programs are currently taught at the main Waitsfield campus and the new Semester Programs started in 2011 are taught at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.

Yestermorrow's Master Plan is designed to accommodate the school's growth over the next 25 years on its campus in Waitsfield, as the school expands its programs. The overarching goal of the process of campus development is to improve student experience, and demonstrate regenerative design principles that improve the site from the perspective of the natural systems, the students, staff and supporters, as well as the local community.

This plan is designed to accommodate up to 4 simultaneous courses and a maximum daily capacity of 100 people, with on-site lodging for up to 50 people.

Major themes: Some of the major themes of the plan include:

• Move the campus out of the floodplain and into the foot of the hillside, protecting wetlands and allowing for forest access for sustainable harvest.
• Slow the water as it travels through the campus, and make sure it is clean as it moves into the river.
• Create a gradient from public space to private space as you move from south to north, with the kitchen, dining and administrative spaces in the most public areas adjacent to parking, learning spaces in the middle of the campus, and lodging in the most private areas.
• Design buildings in residential-scale modules that will be designed and built by students using a variety of design and building techniques and technologies.
• Encourage the participation of the Yestermorrow community in the creation of the campus.
•  Entrance to the site should point people to the main public building.
• Restore agricultural use of field adjacent to Route 100.

Construction Phasing: We have divided the plan into three main phases in terms of priority:

Phase I: Bring semester programs on campus (build classroom, shop and dormitory for 16 students), replace existing intern housing, and initial site infrastructure including access driveways.

Phase II: Expand classroom spaces through the construction of additional studio and woodshop buildings, together with lodging for students and faculty.

Phase III: Create new main administrative, kitchen, dining and studio space. Renovate former Alpen Inn building into studios, library and student lounge.

Design Process: Yestermorrow’s board and staff have spearheaded the master planning process, with support from the Regenesis design team (Bill Reed, John Boecker, and Joel Glanzberg) with input from many members of the Yestermorrow community.

The board constituted a "Core Team" in November 2011 to continue to develop the plan. The Core Team is made up of 6 members, each representing different stakeholders in the school (students, staff, donors, board, community and natural systems). This team has been meeting weekly to continue to research constraints on the site, convene additional "field teams" of experts and interested parties to help us develop various aspects of the plan (wastewater, energy, design, forestry/agriculture, and stormwater/wetlands).

Features of the Plan:

•  Buildings will be oriented to maximize solar access, both for passive solar heating as well as photovoltaic electricity production on roofs.
• Culverts will be minimized, and stream flows returned to a naturalized state.
•  Wastewater systems will include advanced pre-treatment and instead of building one large conventional septic system, we will build smaller cells to treat wastewater as each phase is developed.
•  Heating systems will be distributed and use residential-scale technologies (vs. one large centralized unit).
•  The parking areas will incorporate areas for growing (orchards, gardens) and potentially energy production via photovoltaic canopies.
• Access to the site's forest resources will allow for sustainable harvest, milling, and storage of lumber on site for campus use.

Through the campus development, a variety of minor structures will be deconstructed or moved as needed:

• Chalet (deconstruct)
•  Pine Cabin (move to new location)
•  Yurt (move to new location)
• Garden Shed (deconstruct)
•  Lawnmower shed (deconstruct)
•  Fabric formed concrete cabin (deconstruct)
•  Composting Toilet and Solar Shower (deconstruct)

 DR

Yestermorrow Campus Master Plan

Program by Phase with Square Footage

Phase 1

New Construction

#	Building	Square Footage	Capacity
5	Intern Housing	2000	8 interns
8, 4, 3	Semester Program Studio/ Semester Program Office (upper) Tool Storage/Facilities Office (lower)	3000	16 students, 3 faculty
1	Semester Program Shop	1500	16 students
6	Semester Program Dormitory	4000	16 students
2	Outdoor Covered Work Area	1000
15	Bath House	600	For cabin/camping
24	Greenhouse	700
	SUBTOTAL	12,120

Existing Infrastructure Plans

#	Building
25	Main Building- current functions to stay the same (studio, shop, office, kitchen, dormitory). Facilities office to move to new building.
33, 53, 32	3 cabins remain (Strawbale, Timberframe, Slate)
34, 52	2 cabins to be relocated (Pine Cabin and Yurt)
42	1 cabin (Fabric Formed Concrete) to be removed
45, 46, 47	Composting Toilet and Solar Shower to be removed
48	Chalet to be removed once new intern housing is built
43	Trilithon to be removed
49	Driveway and parking area to remain in current location

Site Infrastructure

#	Building
	Develop drive/fire access to residential zone
30	Develop drive/fire access to semester shop and studio
	Initial sitework/earthmoving to create terraces so that each structure has entry on both ground floor and 1st floor.
	Remove culvert to daylight stream in cabin area
56	Wastewater systems (phase 1)

Phase 2

#	Building	Square Footage	Capacity
1	Woodworking Shop/ Woodworking  Drafting Studio	2300	10 students
9	Carpentry Shop	1500	10-12 students
2	Outdoor Covered Work Areas	1000	Adjacent to/between shops
14	Student Housing	3000	24 students
13	Instructor Housing	2000	6 instructors
	SUBTOTAL	9,800
24	Vehicle Storage (unconditioned)	800	4 vehicles, 10x20 each
8	Wood Storage (unconditioned)	800
23	Parking Area	9000	60 spaces @150 s.f. ea

Existing Infrastructure Plans

#	Building
25	Main Building- Existing Woodshop and Dormitory functions to move out into new space. Kitchen/Dining area expands on 1st floor into design studio, offices expand on 1st floor into conference room, conference room moves to South Studio space, classroom space developed on ground floor in former dormitory rooms, lounge area developed in former shop space.
23	Redevelop tennis court area as parking and redefine entry drive.
38	Remove storage shed (“carrot hut”) on edge of tennis courts.

Site Infrastructure

#	Building
56	Wastewater systems (phase 2)

Phase 3

	Building	Square Footage	Capacity
	New Entry Building including:
17	Administrative Offices	1440	8 staff, 8 interns
19	Conference Room	250	16 people
20	Entry/Lobby	400
18	Dining Area	900	60 people
18	Kitchen & Kitchen Office	700
	Storage	200
	Toilets	500
	Outdoor Dining Area	300
	Bus Shelter *if bus exists*	100
	SUBTOTAL	7,990

Existing Infrastructure Plans

#	Building
54	Remove garden shed and garden
25	Move office, kitchen/dining functions out of existing main building. Alpen Inn building renovated for design studios, library, student lounge

Site Infrastructure

#	Building
26	Build Mad River Path connection pedestrian trail
56	Wastewater systems (phase 3)

Yestermorrow Campus Master Plan

Landscaping, Screening and Lighting Guidelines

Exterior Lighting

Exterior spaces, parking lots and walkways and entrances shall be well lit to provide safe access for site users while avoiding off-site lighting and night sky pollution. All outdoor lighting (on the buildings or in the landscape) shall minimize light pollution using approved semi-cutoff or full cutoff fixture designs. Signage shall be designed with top-mounted fixtures shielded to shine light only on the sign itself.

Screening

Landscaping within the 225’ setback shall screen structures from the road to the extent required to maintain the integrity of the natural context of the scenic road, except in cases in which vegetation may inhibit solar gain, natural lighting within buildings, and solar power production.

Parking

A minimum of 60 parking spaces shall be provided.  Design elements within the parking areas may include but are not limited to pervious paving, vegetated islands, and bioswales.  Solar collectors shall also be incorporated to provide shade in the summer and reduce snow removal in the winter. All parking areas shall be accessible by well-lit paths.

Parking design shall allow for the maximum flexibility in size and number of vehicles, accommodating single cars, small and large buses, and large delivery vehicles. Allocation of parking spaces shall be at the discretion of the school and may vary seasonally. The entire parking area shall be maintained for fire truck access and snow removal throughout the year.