The proposed Tlingit & Haida Education Campus will provide a culturally influenced educational model serving the full range of Tlingit and Haida students, from the youngest toddlers, kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as life-long learners interested in improving vocational or professional skills.
The Education Campus will center on integrating cultural teaching methods, values, and built forms. To emphasize this new philosophy, MRV has developed a learning module which draws heavily from Southeast Native tribal house design traditions. The module integrates a central primary area for storytelling, music, and dance, with perimeter support areas including small classrooms and teacher spaces. The built forms will integrate into the surrounding environment, again following traditional example, to create an outdoor educational experience aligned with cultural values.
A large cultural event center anchors the heart of the campus. This building, whose form draws from a traditional woven cedar hat, provides a seating capacity of 1,600, a space adequate for the largest regional events. The event center integrates large wood panels and timbers, expansive glass areas to capture the view, and integrates Native design features throughout. This center will be multi-functional, providing a performance venue, as well as a sports and fitness center serving the full campus, allowing students to compete alongside regional schools.
The entire campus design is laid out in a crescent shape which speaks to the form of traditional Tlingit and Haida villages, visually recreating a contemporary version of a traditional village with contemporary facilities and needs.
