We are closing in on the final color scheme for Gunn High School! This week, 2 proposals will be unveiled and students, teachers and staff will have 3 days to cast their votes for a favorite scheme. Before the schemes are unveiled, the design team wanted to share a little background information.

Over the past 6 weeks a series of surveys were sent out to Students, Teachers, Staff and Parents. The surveys led our team to a better understanding of how the campus is used and to a handful of priorities for improvements. The resounding priority was for enhanced community and social spaces followed closely by the priority for addition of murals on campus which would allow for student participation. Staff and parents weighed in with concerns for better signage and wayfinding.

We collected responses from over 300 students during student engagement activities, 50 staff members and 100 parents through surveys. Student were clear: Murals, Social Space, and Campus Community Space, but Staff preferred Signage, Murals and … — We collected responses from over 300 students during student engagement activities, 50 staff members and 100 parents through surveys. Student were clear: Murals, Social Space, and Campus Community Space, but Staff preferred Signage, Murals and Community Space.

As the design team spent time on the campus and with students, we gathered images of the current campus and of the inspiring natural surroundings. The palettes proposed this week draw from the oaks, the grasses, and the flora around campus to present palettes that work with the surroundings as well as the concrete columns and other materials from the existing buildings.

Gunn's campus has a bounty of natural beauty and colors we wanted to celebrate.

In researching schools that have undergone renovations, we found the Sequoyah School in Pasadena, California to have great relevance to this project. Fung + Blatt led a recent remodel and addition to the 1950’s ranch campus at Sequoyah School. The light ceilings and overhangs with a warm gray palette for most of the exterior walls is enlivened by a few pops of bright colors at the doors and hallways or pass throughs

Light colored ceilings and neutral warm grey walls provide a calm backdrop for pops of bright color to highlight doors, niches, hallways.

As social spaces and community gathering spaces are a priority to the school, we also looked at unified color schemes for social areas, such as the blue seating at the Mitchell Park Teen Center or the orange chairs at Mint Plaza in San Francisco. These colorful, unified additions to a space help brighten spaces and identify areas to gather.

Some great use of color to highlight social space.

Murals are a priority across everyone we surveyed - students, teachers, and parents. Through our initial student engagement and priority mapping, we have selected some great areas for murals. Spangenburg is perfect - it is very large, central to campus, and is also the first building many people see when they are entering campus. There are also other potential locations that will work best for students to do the work without the need for ladders or scaffolding at the K building. Murals are a colorful addition that can deepen the identity of the campus through heavy student design and input.

Mural suggestions include patterns, natural elements, or figurative work.

Look for the 2 proposed schemes to be posted Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. You will find the proposals posted at the Library Lobby, near the Quad, within the Bat Cave and near the entrance to Spangenberg. Come by to see the color swatches in person, check out the 2 proposals, and then cast your vote at http://www.paintgunnhs.com/vote!