JCPS Ballard High School Patio Improvements
Project #:
3552
Location:
6000 Brownsboro Rd
Louisville, KY 40222
Project Description:
Ballard High School is an award-winning public school located in Louisville, Kentucky just off of Brownsboro Road near the I-264 on and off ramps. The school’s mission and its campus have been relatively the same over the last five decades; the students, their interests, and the world, however, are constantly changing and sometimes require the built environment to adjust with them. This was particularly true of the outdoor space on the East end of the campus which was home to a 7,400+/- square foot concrete patio.
The circa 1960s concrete patio at Ballard High School was in need of renovation to address pedestrian safety concerns, to assist with stormwater runoff into an existing overwhelmed detention basin, and to meet the ever-changing activities and needs of the students.
Mindel Scott’s Tasks:
The landscape architect-led project team proposed a flexible design that would allow for versatile programming while also working with the natural features of the site instead of fighting against them. The original impervious patio and seven-foot concrete retaining walls were replaced with a permeable paver patio and a series of shorter terraced walls, creating space for the school community to gather while also bringing vegetation back into the area to assist with stormwater runoff.
A new ADA-accessible path was designed to connect the school with the new outdoor space and existing walkways that lead to the city’s transit routes. The updated outdoor area is an inclusive and sustainable step forward from the brutalist concrete design that dominated the space for decades.
Status:
Completed 2022
Size:
0.44 acres
Project Contact:
Susan Biasiolli, AIA
Director of Facility Planning for JCPS