Adaptive Reuse of Vacant Schools
Urban Planning, Adaptive Reuse, Community Design
This project brought together neighbors, community organizations, and design professionals worked together to reimagine the use for vacant school buildings in Philadelphia — looking at both the short and long term use to ensure that these large empty buildings remain community assets for their neighborhoods.
About the Project
From 2011, there were 257 active public schools in Philadelphia. By 2014, 30 of them were closed. What do these big empty buildings mean for Philly’s tight-knit communities? What will happen to them in neighborhoods where the real estate market is hot… or not? We partnered with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development to tackle the issue of school reuse through a design initiative supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia.
The project included:
A design workshop that gave the community a voice in charting the redevelopment of the former University City High School site.
Four basement-to-rooftop assessments of buildings and sites of closed public schools to help developers understand their development potential, and
A design charrette focusing on two yet-unsold schools that revealed the power of temporary reuses to get them into active use and redefine their places in the community.
Project Recognition
+ Press
Reimagining vacant schools as vibrant community spaces
Ashley Hahn, WHYY | Dec 9, 2014
Danielle's Role
Danielle supported project management for all phases of the project, and led event planning for the design charrette. Danielle also led the partnership with local publishing company GRID Magazine to create the publication about the program.
Danielle Parnes worked on this project while employed by the Community Design Collaborative.