The Playa Vista Elementary School signage encompasses traditional and exceptional elements for a school campus.
The building structure is one of the first Los Angeles Unified School District school certified by the USGBC, pursuing a LEED Platinum certification. The architect’s intent has been, since the inception of the project, to create a building that informs its users about how it is made and why. Naturally, signage reflects this objective, not only orienting visitors, but engaging them in a “treasure-hunt” to find out more about the school.
Bronze inlays are to be found on the concrete floor throughout the grounds. The alliance of an icon and text indicate points of interest ?an educational garden, a riparian corridor as bio-filtration, among many? and mark the presence of building features not always visible, such as a geothermal heat exchange system, photovoltaic panels or recycled steel. At the entrance of the campus, a sign keys all icons and features and provides more in-depth
information.
An interesting design challenge came about when it was determined that 23 methane exhausts had to be installed around the school. Continuing with the treasure-hunt theme, these became an opportunity to disperse verses of a text written by Italo Calvino. The pipes also showcase graphic pattern details used indoor. Wanderers can play at recreating the meaning of the whole.
In a desire to support the school visual identity wherever possible, the sport and game fields were filled and painted with colors matching the campus’ signage instead of being traditionally line-drawn in white on the floor. This simple move provides the students with rich fields of colors and proposes new interpretations for the markings.
