Members of the Haddonfield Board of Education were joined by district administration officials, students, members of the Haddonfield Educational Trust, the Tarditi family, members of the community, and Project Architects Jeff Potter and Ron Schwenke from LAN Associates to celebrate the dedication of the Sarah Tarditi Gallagher Student Courtyard and Garden at the Haddonfield Memorial High School in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
LAN worked in close collaboration with the district’s administration, school principal, local landscape architect, and the Haddonfield Educational Trust (HET), to design the multi-function outdoor student gathering space which doubles as a student instruction area. The project included the demolition of an underutilized asphalt parking area and the construction of a new gated outdoor learning & gathering space which is concrete paved with curbed planters and vegetation.
“The courtyard is a unique space, built with 1920, 1970, and 2005 vintages of school construction around its perimeter, giving us a fun challenge during design and construction,” said Potter when asked about the project. “Our goal was to create an outdoor auxiliary learning and gathering area that provides a sense of ownership, security, and character while matching the historic yet transcending culture of Haddonfield, and the embodiment of the district.”
The courtyard includes a tiered seating learning space connecting a paved gathering area that features a branded Haddonfield ‘H’ brick paver inlay with mulched landscaping beds of thoughtfully selected vegetation around the perimeter. A tensioned fabric structure is positioned above to provide shade and encourage student congregation as the space also serves as overflow to the adjacent cafeteria. Ornamental gates flank each side of the open-ended courtyard, satisfying the district’s security concerns. Furniture was carefully selected by the HET and LAN to fulfill the space’s functional and flexibility requirements, while providing a sustainable and modern look that compliments the area.
As the Architect-of-Record for the Haddonfield District, LAN provided architecture, civil engineering, and construction administration services for the courtyard design, which was paid for with excess funds from a previous LAN Associates project in Haddonfield, which came in under budget.
