Call to Action: Weave the social and cultural aspects of a project’s locale into your design process. Dream big about community impact: understand how your project can create opportunity for those it serves.

Abstract: A once in a lifetime opportunity: designing a school and community hub on Navajo Nation, which will serve the rural area for generations. Lukachukai Community School became much more than a building, despite the fast-track schedule and remoteness—thanks to a collective vision between designer, contractor, owner, and the community itself. This session delves into strategic workarounds for rural design challenges and shines a light on often-overlooked opportunities go above and beyond for a community’s unique needs. Topics include: communicating design possibilities, managing lead times, designing within BIA guidelines, feasibility + maintainability, school as a community hub, and creating safe places that harmonize between long-standing tradition and forward-thinking design. Video link »

Learning Objectives:

1. Both functional and aesthetic aspects of the Lukachukai Community School project are designed to improve physical, mental and social wellbeing. Since teachers and students live on the campus, some as young as kindergarten, there was a strong need to design facilities to support their health.
   • Building embraces a cultural and recreation space, conceptually similar to how four sacred peaks surround Navajo homeland, increasing physical security and supervision, and allowing for community social functions.
   • Dormitory balances individual privacy with safety by allowing appropriate level of visibility into rooms.
   • The inclusion of the fire station on site required increased the attention designers paid to how pedestrians circulate on site since large vehicles are also present.
   • Entry hub incorporates wall graphics of sacred mountains and attributes of a hogan in the ceiling to serve the important social aspect of ceremonies, as well as creating a school that feels like a cultural home for students.
   • Large gym size allows for community events, increasing physical, mental and social wellbeing of people who live in the area, by making a space accessible for them to gather and participate in physical activities, such as rez-ball tournaments. In remote areas, the gym is the only available fitness center in town. The school’s exterior fields also serve both the students and the community.
   • Entry hub allows school building to be easily secured for public/social uses and private uses.
   • Inclusion of a cultural consultant helped team ensure many aspects of our design were culturally appropriate and could contribute to the feelings of building users that they were in a cultural home.
   • In a community this rural, first responders travel a greater distance and require more time to respond. The inclusion of a fire station, on site, decreases travel time for a first line of responders, who can tackle emergencies until specialized services can respond.
2. Funds were available to build housing but they did not allow money for extension of the water utility to the site. Since the water utility was extended for the school, two low-income communities were able to be constructed across the street.
   • Indoor and outdoor recreation facilities were designed to serve the needs of students and a larger community.
   • Public school is not the right fit for all students in Lukachukai. Some students lack resources for educational success in their home environment, but now have the opportunity to stay in their community and get an education by Navajo people for Navajo people.
   • Local labor constructed the facility, increasing economic opportunity.
3. A concrete batch plant was constructed on-site to prevent concrete from setting by the time it reached the site.
   • Labor and material transportation costs are higher in rural areas. We were able to cut costs by using a fast-track schedule so that the design could be constructed with less escalation.
   • Water tank was constructed to supply fire suppression water with adequate pressure.
4. The Lukachukai Community School campus provides a safe residence, in the form of a K-8 student dorm, near the school. In a community with many underprivileged families, bringing students a long distance to a public school is challenging, and a student’s home might not provide the resources and utilities needed for education.
   • Finding teachers to work in rural locations is challenging because there are limited housing options and other amenities. Teacherages were constructed on the campus to attract and retain talented individuals.