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 LIBRARY 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
SCHOOL 
 
 ARCHITECTVRE 
 IN CALIFORNIA: 
 
School Architecture 
 in California 
 
 Issued by 
 
 The Superintendent of Public Instruction 
 Sacramento, Cal. 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 STATE FEINTING OFFICE 
 1914 
 
Santa Paula Grammar School. A practical adaptation of the old Spanish colonial architecture. 
 
 Santa Paula Grammar School. Eight rooms about a simple court. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 To / School People of California: 
 
 Five years ago we sent you the first handbook on school architecture 
 ever issued by the State. It was introduced by this sentiment: 
 
 "It is almost as cheap to build a beautiful schoolhouse as an ugly one, when 
 we know how. California, like old Greece, is a land of beautiful things. Sun 
 and sea and mountains, streams and trees and flowers conspire to make it a 
 place inspiring to the painter, the poet, the musician, and delightful as a 
 dwelling place for man. This attractiveness and beauty are practical assets of 
 priceless value to the State. We who live here now should give to our land 
 scapes tasteful and harmonious schoolhouses, not dreary shanties surrounded 
 by slovenly barnyards. Our schools, reflecting the public spirit, should be 
 handsome and prosperous, and must not teach slatternly lessons of unthrift 
 to the little boys and girls who are coming on. Here is our Opportunity to 
 touch and to improve the long procession of the future." 
 
 This handbook made its mark upon the State. Schoolhouses arc 
 better lighted because of it and school grounds are of larger size. It 
 created public interest in the school plant. There are constant calls 
 made for it long after the supply is exhausted, and it seems desirable to 
 have something of the kind on hand constantly for sending out to inquir 
 ing school officers. 
 
 It is not possible to prepare and publish exact plans and specifications 
 ready to use in every particular place. Only broad types and general 
 ideas of buildings can be treated in this way. The specific structure for 
 the particular district must be worked out by the local people on the 
 ground, suited to local conditions. 
 
 The plan of this second booklet is to show in a graphic way some 
 excellent examples of the different types of school buildings that are 
 being constructed to-day in California, so as to build up in the minds of 
 the people a distinct ideal of what modern schoolhouses ought to be. 
 The pictures and plans have been chosen from the whole State by a jury 
 of competent and well-known school architects, who have given their 
 work for the good of the cause. I hope the volume will be studied by 
 those who are concerned in building our schools, and that its tendency 
 may be toward better conditions for the boys and girls and finer land 
 scapes for the Golden State. 
 
 EDWARD HYATT, 
 Superintendent Public Instruction. 
 
Old school in Mendocino County before remodeling. 
 
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 Remodeled Mill Creek School in Mendocino County, showing what can be done in many 
 
 country districts. 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 On the evening of June 17, 1913. the Jury of Architects appointed by 
 the Superintendent of Public Instruction, met at the San Francisco 
 Architectural Club where the photographs and drawings of California 
 schools submitted for publication had been displayed. 
 The following architects were present : 
 Lewis P. Hobart of San Francisco. 
 Chas. S. Kaiser of Sacramento. 
 John W. Woollett, State Architect. 
 J. J. Donovan of Oakland. 
 C. H. Cheney of San Francisco. 
 
 Some four hundred photographs, drawings and blue prints were 
 received, and of this number the Jury selected about thirty-five as 
 advantageous for publication. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
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 A simple one-room country school. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 REPORT OF THE JURY OF ARCHITECTS. 
 
 By CHARLES HENRY CHENEY, Secretary. 
 
 When in 1909 the Superintendent of Public Instruction sent out a 
 request to the city and county superintendents throughout California for 
 examples of the best school architecture in their districts, there was a 
 prompt and hearty response, productive of a very large number of school 
 drawings and schemes. These were later published under the title of 
 "School Architecture in California." 
 
 However, while there was a great demand for this pamphlet and the 
 buildings embodied therein certainly did much to stimulate a further 
 interest in school building, it was obvious that by getting out a new 
 volume there might be a great opportunity to improve the standards and 
 character of school architecture, if the architects of the State would 
 co-operate in advising the best schools to be published and thus draw 
 them to the attention of boards of trustees and school people generally. 
 
 An advisory committee of architects was therefore appointed from 
 different parts of the State to act as a Jury to pass on all designs and 
 plans submitted. It was understood at the outset that only such designs 
 as this Jury professionally advised would be printed in the report. 
 
 The Basis of the Judgment. 
 
 As the object of this publication was to draw attention only to the 
 better school architecture, it was decided that of the plans submitted 
 only those which were sure to set a standard for the school boards of 
 the State should be considered. Thus the question immediately arose as 
 to what is the chief problem of school architecture in California and how 
 best to direct attention towards its proper solution. 
 
 During the school year 191213 there was set aside and expended in 
 this State for new buildings the sum of $7,372,215.18. This was dis 
 tributed over kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, and normal 
 schools. Hence, the importance to the State of obtaining not alone the 
 highest practical results, but also the best designs and architecture. 
 
 If so many buildings at such great cost are set up annually as an 
 object lesson to all the younger generation, is it not absolutely essential 
 that they should advance the highest and noblest ideas possible, that they 
 should form a nucleus for the patriotic sentiments of their respective 
 communities ? Should they not help to attract the incoming population 
 which most of this State is so anxious to have? 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Open-air classroom at Pasadena. Note simplicity and freedom. 
 
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 Another view of open-air classroom at Pasadena. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
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 Open-air classroom unit from Pasadena, valuable for simplicity and economy. 
 
8 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Place Good Buildings Where They Can Be Seen. 
 
 The placing of fine schools or other public buildings to block the end 
 of a street receives much attention in other countries. America is just 
 beginning to take cognizance of this idea, owing to the checkerboard 
 plan with which our cities are generally afflicted. 
 
 Good architecture is one of the strongest of favorable impressions that 
 any municipality can make on its visitors, and if buildings can be so 
 placed as to call attention to the fact that the taxpayers' money is well 
 spent, the prestige and civic pride of the city can be greatly enhanced. 
 
 Two-room country school. 
 
 The featuring of fine schools or other public buildings stopping the vistas 
 of long streets forms a distinct relief to the monotony of the checker 
 board plan. 
 
 This is a matter to be kept in mind by school boards in selecting future 
 sites. It is in no way necessary, however, that school buildings be made 
 monuments of architecture. Most attempts in this direction have 
 impaired the value of the buildings as schools, as well as giving a false 
 face to their function. In fact, it is unfortunately. true that the lighting 
 and efficiency of many buildings in this State are completely spoiled by 
 attempts of this kind to make a big show. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The Plan and the Exterior Design. 
 
 School architecture is a special problem. The practical requirements 
 are many and diverse and the solution of the planning problem alone 
 requires an experienced and well trained architect. While California in 
 most parts of the State does not present the rigorous climatic conditions 
 of the Eastern States, the problems of school design are nevertheless 
 very much the same throughout the country. 
 
 There are two distinct sides to the architect's problem : planning, and 
 the design of the exterior and interior. While from the practical stand- 
 
 Front and rear views Grant and Jefferson four-room Grammar School at San Diego. 
 
 point the plan has the preponderance of importance, the problem of 
 obtaining an attractive and dignified building is also of final consequence 
 to every school board. 
 
 It requires more than a good carpenter or contractor to obtain either 
 of these results, yet it is unfortunately true that in the interior and coun 
 try communities it is very difficult to obtain a well trained architect to 
 
10 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Floor plan of Grant and Jefferson School at San Diego. 
 
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 Grammar School at Santa Paula. See frontispiece for elevation. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 11 
 
 undertake the work. While it may also be true that local pride might 
 favor a local design, such preference is very liable to be the undoing of 
 school boards. 
 
 Good Architecture a Matter of Evolution. 
 
 Is it right for local boards to work for anything but the highest results 
 in buildings which are to determine the future efficiency and health of 
 the generation ? Should they not have at their command the best sources 
 of information possible and be cognizant of the latest development in 
 school ajchitecture ? Should public money be spent for anything but 
 the finest buildings possible? Good results in architecture are largely a 
 matter of evolution, of study, with a knowledge of the previous forward 
 steps in design. 
 
 It is evident that if the foremost examples of each type of school 
 building in these United States could be distributed to each member of 
 every board of trustees in California, they could then go on improving 
 and making over until we had built up a school architecture founded 
 upon the best that is in existence. 
 
 The School Site. 
 
 With this in mind, it is easier to undertake the school problem. First 
 to be considered are the requirements for the study of a school plan. 
 What is the orientation, the approach, the size and drainage of the site? 
 The number of classrooms, special rooms and their relation one to 
 another? How much playground space is necessary? The amount of 
 preliminary study put on these points largely determines the value of 
 the solution. 
 
 The first problem, the size of the site, is a matter which is undergoing 
 a tremendous change for the better in this State at the present time. 
 The great value of organized play and the increasing interest in the 
 opening of school buildings to the larger community for use after school 
 hours, has led to the now generally adopted idea that every school should 
 have ten or twelve acres of ground if possible. While the congested 
 conditions in some cities make this impracticable in many cases, it is still 
 significant to see municipalities as large as Los Angeles and Oakland 
 purchasing such sites. 
 
 The orientation or placing of school buildings with relation to the 
 points of the compass is an exceedingly important matter. A site where 
 the general directions of enclosing streets are at an angle with the north 
 and south is greatly preferable in that it admits the sunlight at some time 
 of the day to the most of the rooms of the building. The beneficent 
 effect of sunshine as a germ destroyer can not be denied and must be 
 sought wherever possible. High ground, that is ground sloping off from 
 the building site, is equally important from the sanitation standpoint. 
 
12 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 A one-story example in brick. Artesia Grammar School. 
 
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 Detail of Artesia Grammar School. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 13 
 
 The New One-Story Multiple Unit School Building. 
 
 As the sites grow more ample there is no question but that school 
 buildings all on one floor are greatly to be desired. For hygienic reasons 
 the girl students at least should not be subjected to too frequent climbing 
 of stairs. The added danger of panic in the case of fire or earthquake 
 has made the tendency all in the direction of one-story buildings. 
 
 The satisfactory new multiple unit building has also the advantage 
 that if only part of the classrooms are built at first additional rooms can 
 be added comfortably and conveniently as they are required, without 
 ruining the appearance of the building until the maximum advisable 
 under one principal (generally twenty- four classrooms) has been 
 reached. The present movement for open air classrooms can also be 
 easily handled by having the window side of the room entirely re 
 movable. Some very good examples of the one-story type were sub 
 mitted and are published herein. 
 
 The Typical Classroom. 
 
 In studying out a plan, the chief problem is to so simplify the require 
 ments as to get their proper relation one to another. For instance, the 
 size and arrangement of a typical schoolroom has been studied upon for 
 years and in the Oakland investigation of 1912 the amount of data 
 collected on this subject led the authorities there to as final a conclusion 
 as has been made on this subject anywhere in the United States. Yet 
 it was evident at the present exhibition at the first glance that nine out 
 of ten of the school designers represented seemed absolutely unfamiliar 
 with the findings so close at hand. 
 
 Briefly, the best typical schoolroom would have all the light on one 
 side of the room, the window area of glass being approximately twenty- 
 five per cent of the floor area, with the one entrance door near the 
 teacher's desk. The wardrobe should have two doors opening out of 
 the classroom, one on each side of the teacher, but with no doors enter 
 ing into the hallway. It should make room for a maximum of forty 
 pupils' desks. 
 
 Having settled upon a classroom unit the grouping of these units 
 about the central vestibule and assembly hall, together with the arrange 
 ment of other special rooms, the principal's office, teacher's room and 
 music, manual training, domestic science rooms, etc. (if they are to be 
 included), is the next problem. 
 
 Special Rooms Other Than Classrooms. 
 
 The determination of the special rooms required, other than class 
 rooms, is a matter now provoking much important discussion. The 
 assembly room with its moving picture apparatus and other fittings is 
 being included in most of the new buildings in Oakland and Los Angeles, 
 
14 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Rear view of eight-room Grammar School at Artesia. 
 
 Main floor plan of Grammar School at Artesia. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 15 
 
 and it is generally considered by educators a necessary and very useful 
 adjunct to every school building. Placed where it can be cut off from 
 the rest of the building for use in the evening, it can be of great service 
 to the community both for educational and entertainment purposes. 
 
 A community club room to be used also as a branch public library or 
 a possible voting booth, is another recent improvement widely accepted. 
 Principal's and teachers' rooms and the arrangement for gymnasia for 
 boys and girls, preferably in adjoining wings, form the basis for many 
 neat adjustments in making a good plan. Toilets must be conveniently 
 placed with respect to each group of classrooms and the classrooms 
 arranged with corridors on the side opposite the lighting and in such 
 a way as to make a short and convenient communication between the 
 different parts. 
 
 The discussions of the Jury finally led to the other members unani 
 mously requesting Mr. J. J. Donovan of Oakland to submit a brief 
 outline of the work being done there for publication with this report. 
 
 With these points adjusted the question of design of the exterior 
 should become a simple expression of the arrangements within. 
 
 The Buildings Selected for Publication. 
 
 The above outline of building requirements was briefly the basis upon 
 which the architects of the Jury acted in considering the buildings to be 
 offered as examples of the best school architecture in the State. While 
 there is no question that a splendid lot of buildings were selected, many 
 of them fell short in one particular or other. However, the Jury was 
 much delighted at the sum total of really good buildings that have 
 already been constructed in California and unanimously expressed the 
 opinion that this State has a decidedly beautiful and advanced trend to 
 its school architecture. 
 
 In considering the different classes of buildings the Jury was imme 
 diately impressed by the very small number of country schools of any 
 kind submitted, although by actual count the district schools of the State 
 greatly exceed all others in number. 
 
 The Jury was asked by Mr. Hyatt to freely criticize the drawings to 
 be published, with the understanding that whatever was said would be 
 accepted for the good of the cause. The points where the designs 
 selected could be improved upon are therefore frankly gone into in this 
 report with the hope that the architects concerned will accept the criti 
 cism in good faith and understand that the Jury were unanimous in the 
 selection of each drawing as representative of the best type of school 
 building in California. 
 
 In hanging the drawings the buildings were grouped into seven types, 
 according to the announcement sent out, and the Jury appointed was 
 careful to select the best examples presented in each class. However, 
 
16 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Beautiful rambling wooden High School building at Nordhoff. 
 
 Wild Rose Grammar School at Monrovia. Good handling of a two-story building. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 17 
 
 there was sometimes more than one building in each group that seemed 
 worthy of having attention directed to it, and in some cases several 
 examples have been published. 
 
 One-Room Buildings. 
 
 The problem of the one-room school is a good deal more difficult to 
 handle than may be supposed. If reduced to its first elements, it is 
 almost an axiom of school building that the best light is obtained from 
 one side of the room. Most of the mistakes seen in our rural school- 
 houses would immediately be eliminated if this were adhered to, but 
 unfortunately the fact that the one-room school usually has three 
 exposed sides seems to offer great temptations to architects to use them 
 all for lighting, causing bad cross lights and generally bad cross 
 draughts. The problem of the entrances is really small in comparison. 
 
 A one-room school from Visalia showed an interesting plan, with 
 many admirable features. The opening of the cloakrooms into the 
 vestibule was criticized as not being controllable from the teacher's desk 
 and the monumental entrance porches deprecated. 
 
 The remodeled district school of Mill Creek, Mendocino County, pro 
 voked much comment upon its neat character, considering what had been 
 done with the old building. 
 
 The simple open air classroom unit from Pasadena is valuable both 
 for its simplicity and dignity, also for its clear-cut and economical 
 arrangement. Here, again, the Jury preferred the opening of the cloak 
 room into the classroom only. The question of cross light was brought 
 up, but was thought to be properly handled. On the whole the design 
 is highly complimented and attention is directed to this successful solu 
 tion of the problem. 
 
 Two-Room Buildings. 
 
 The two-room plan published was found by the Jury to have the same 
 suggestion as to cloakrooms and generally as to the number of outside 
 doors to the classrooms. The Jury was practically unanimous in agree 
 ing with the recent findings of the Oakland School Building Commission 
 that it is best to have one outside door only to each classroom, and that 
 as near to the teacher's desk as possible in order that she may have 
 absolute control of the children. 
 
 Four-Room School Buildings. 
 
 The Grant and Jefferson School of San Diego furnished an admirable 
 example of a simple arrangement for a four-room building. It has the 
 great advantage of being extensible without destroying the architecture 
 of the building. It also has a straightforward plan and is in the appro 
 priate Spanish style, with provision for the addition of another group of 
 rooms in the rear. 
 
18 
 
 SCOOHL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Front view of the Lincoln Grammar School at Madera, a beautiful and commodious building. 
 
 Rear view of the Lincoln Grammar School at Madera. Observe the fine effect of design 
 in red bricks against a white background of cement bricks. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 19 
 
 Side view of the Lincoln Grammar School at Madera. 
 
 Floor plan of Lincoln Grammar School at Madera. 
 
20 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Grammar School Buildings. 
 
 Another impressive example of the Spanish style was found in the 
 Santa Paula Grammar School, which presents eight classrooms arranged 
 as simply as possible about an admirable cloistered court. The Jury 
 again questioned the cloakrooms opening into the passageway, but on 
 the whole found both plan and elevations commendable. 
 
 The Artesia Grammar School is a splendid example of good architec 
 ture, particularly well studied and pleasing. There has been a good deal 
 of discussion about circular headed windows for classrooms, since the 
 arched opening makes a very undesirable shadow on the ceiling, and 
 hence an uneven reflected light. In this case the overhang of the roof 
 
 The Wilmington High School presents a refined and beautiful exterior. 
 
 casts a shadow which perhaps relieves this somewhat, but there is no 
 question that the near grouping of square-headed windows as in Santa 
 Paula is more desirable. 
 
 An interesting example of a rambling one-story building at Nordhoff 
 was also considered worthy of publication. 
 
 The Wild Rose Grammar School of Monrovia presents a simple 
 arrangement of a two-story building and was considered a good handling 
 of this problem, where crowded city conditions make land too scarce to 
 build all upon one floor. 
 
 As a grammar school with a group plan and assembly hall, the new 
 Lincoln school of Madera is both interesting and out of the ordinary. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 21 
 
 The use of brick patterns on the exterior contrasts with the white sur 
 faces and furnishes a very good example of possibilities of design which 
 have been scarcely attempted in California as yet. 
 
 Detail of entrance to the Wilmington High School. 
 
 High School Buildings. 
 
 The Wilmington High School, Los Angeles, presents a refined and 
 beautiful exterior and typifies an architecture of the civilization to which 
 California really belongs. The use of brick in school buildings is here 
 
22 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Monrovia Polytechnic High School, showing remarkable open-air auditorium. 
 
 Monrovia Polytechnic High School, showing beautiful cloister between the main building 
 and the Manual Arts Building. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 First floor plan of Monrovia Polytechnic High School. 
 
 Second floor plan of Monrovia Polytechnic High School 
 
24 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 carried to an extremely high order of art and inspired the Jury with 
 much hope for the future. 
 
 The Princeton Union High School shows the simple handling of the 
 requirements of a small union district. 
 
 Santa Monica Polytechnic High School on top of a hill overlooking the sea. Easily foremost 
 
 in recent development. 
 
 Polytechnic High Schools. 
 
 The Santa Monica group was easily foremost in recent developments 
 of this character shown. The building is particularly well adapted to its 
 site on the top of a hill. The group plan has been well arranged upon 
 the site and with reference to the central building, and the grouping of 
 
 Princeton Union High School in Colusa County. 
 
 the rooms is well studied and incorporates most of the latest develop 
 ments in modern school building. The placing of special rooms and the 
 arrangement of the manual arts building also have much to commend 
 them. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 25 
 
 Detail of main entrance, Santa Monica Polytechnic High School. 
 
26 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The Monrovia High School also offers a well handled idea in its open 
 air auditorium, which is here reproduced. High school pageants, folk 
 dancing, dramatics, debating and other matters which demand audi 
 torium space are being increasingly turned into the open air. It is very 
 evident that California presents unusual possibilities in this direction, and 
 every opportunity should be encouraged to provide open air theaters. 
 
 Normal School Buildings. 
 
 The State Normal School at San Jose presents a striking contrast to 
 most school buildings in this State, and with its enclosed arcaded court 
 and tile roofs presents an exterior which the Jury felt was highly to be 
 commended. The simple arrangement of the plan is noteworthy, with 
 the light all uniformly on the outside of the building and the passageways 
 open to a protected court. 
 
 The drawings for the new Los Angeles State Normal School are again 
 different in character and smack of good design. The group plan 
 around an irregular court, ties in very well the related buildings, pre 
 senting a campus arrangement on a small scale which at a glance shows 
 the size and importance which these, the real present-day colleges of the 
 country, are fast assuming. The location of the manual arts and kinder 
 garten rooms and dining hall to one side, and the placing of the athletic 
 field and agricultural gardens all show a very happy solution of a difficult 
 problem. 
 
 The Santa Barbara School of Manual Arts is a different type which 
 has many requirements common to other schools and the way they have 
 been developed may well be studied. 
 
 Recommendations of the Jury. 
 
 The above selections on the whole present surprisingly good examples 
 of school architecture and there is no question that if the types pointed 
 out be followed as a basis for future building, the school system of this 
 State and the cities in which the structures are located will be a great 
 deal better off. 
 
 This is, indeed, the earnest hope of every member of the Jury. Every 
 effort was certainly made to give an impartial judgment, the chief regret 
 being that an even larger number of typical buildings were not sub 
 mitted, particularly from San Francisco and the northern part of the 
 State. 
 
 There is no use overlooking the fact that there is little effective guid 
 ance of school trustees and school people generally to secure the 
 acceptance of good designs only. With this idea there was passed at 
 the last session of the legislature a concurrent resolution appointing a 
 committee of architects and hold-over senators and assemblymen to draft 
 an effective and comprehensive law, providing for the establishment of a 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 27 
 
 Grand tower of San Jose State Normal School. Cost of building $250,000. 
 
 Entrance to the great court of the San Jose State Normal School. 
 
28 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 First floor of San Jose State Normal School. 
 
 Second floor of San Jose State Normal School. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 29 
 
 state art commission, to be reported to the next legislature in 1915 for 
 action. Such a commission now exists in several Eastern States and in 
 the city of New York, where it has been a great success in raising the 
 standard of public buildings generally. 
 
 It is proposed that a commission of architects and others versed in 
 matters of art be established to act without pay, to pass upon all school 
 buildings and upon state, county and municipal buildings, with the sole 
 purpose of preventing by veto power the erection of unsightly and poorly 
 designed structures. 
 
 While this is somewhat of a new idea in California it certainly is the 
 most effective method yet found to insure expert inspection of our school 
 buildings. Undoubtedly such a commission could do a great deal of 
 good and would meet with the wholesome respect of the community. If 
 men of the highest type agree to give a small part of their time each 
 month, as they are now doing in New York and elsewhere, to the good 
 of their state, there is reason to believe they will prove equally public 
 spirited in California. 
 
 While some opposition will undoubtedly be met until the value of 
 such a commission has been demonstrated, it must be remembered 
 that this is not in any sense a new idea in America and that California 
 is no longer a pioneer state. It now stands, particularly in its school 
 system, as nearly the highest exponent of culture and learning in the 
 United States. Our school buildings must needs live up to our school 
 teaching standards and become typical of the greatest advance in school 
 building and school architecture in America, instead of being sadly 
 unsuccessful in design, as in so many cases. 
 
 There is every reason why California with its unusual climatic con 
 ditions should develop an architecture of as cultivated and distinguished 
 a type as any old world country. Such a development must be a steady 
 progress in design the sifting and holding up to public notice of the 
 best buildings, and the discouragement and elimination of poor ones. 
 
 It is sincerely to be hoped that the next legislature will provide for 
 such a state art commission and that capable men be appointed to it with 
 ample powers and tact to make its judgments secure a real advance in 
 the standards of school architecture. 
 
 In closing this report the Jury unanimously expressed the conviction 
 that such an inspection of the progress in school building as has been 
 attempted herein, if repeated annually for the next decade, might be pro 
 ductive of a concentration of thought in the State along the right lines, 
 until California had indeed developed a demand for real architecture, and 
 would not permit the perpetration of anything else. 
 
30 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Main court of Los Angeles State Normal School. 
 
 HELIOTROPE DR.IVE 
 
 Buildings and grounds of the Los Angeles State Normal School. Twenty-two 
 acres of land. Cost of buildings $600,000. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 31 
 
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 First floor Santa Barbara State Normal School. Cost cf building $125,000. 
 
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 SUIl lOIKU OODL 01 IliUVtt AUS 1 MOMl ICOKOKICS 
 
 Second floor of Santa Barbara State Normal School. 
 
32 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 It may be well next year, and in succeeding- years, to select and pub 
 lish, first, plans of the best new buildings of the year, and secondly, 
 plans of the best of the old buildings which the progress of the year still 
 holds worthy to be taken as examples, adding thereto such buildings as 
 had been overlooked in previous reports and eliminating those displaced 
 in standard by the new buildings. There would then be a sort of pro 
 gressive competition leading to a definite indication of the progress 
 made. 
 
 As soon as the community as a whole begins to know and distinguish, 
 there is bound to be a sharp advance in both the demands of school 
 trustees and in the knowledge and the character of design offered by 
 architects themselves. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 33 
 
 NEW SCHOOL BUILDING WORK OF OAKLAND. 
 
 By J. J. DONOVAN. 
 
 On January 12, 1912, the Board of Education of the city of Oakland 
 appointed an honorary committee to study and consider the needs for 
 the proposed school work which was to involve an expenditure of 
 $2,000,000. This honorary commission was composed of the following 
 persons : 
 
 J. W. McClymonds, City Superintendent, Chairman ; 
 
 A. C. Barker, Assistant Superintendent ; 
 
 Morris E. Cox, Assistant Superintendent ; 
 
 Dr. Leonard P. Avers, Associate Director Russell Sage Foundation ; 
 
 Dr. C. G. Hyde, University of California ; 
 
 Dr. D. S. Snedden, Massachusetts Commissioner of Education; 
 
 Mrs. Fred. C. Turner, Oakland ; 
 
 John Galen Howard, University of California; 
 
 Dr. Lewis N. Terman, Stanford University; 
 
 Dr. F. B. Dresslar, U. S. Bureau of Education ; 
 
 The Supervising Architect. 
 
 Dr. Dresslar, Dr. Snedden and Dr. Ayers were to aid the Commission 
 by correspondence. The principal of each school was a member of the 
 commission so far as his own school was concerned. 
 
 Some few years ago it was comparatively a simple matter to plan and 
 build a school building to meet the needs of the times, but now, with the 
 demands made upon the school, the task is more complex and difficult. 
 
 The active members of the Commission met regularly, and at each 
 meeting vigorous discussions were entered into. Some of the questions 
 were as follows : What rooms, other than regular classrooms, are 
 needed? This brought out considerable discussion, which evolved the 
 Assembly Hall, Neighborhood Club Room, Branch of the Public Library, 
 Principal's Suite, Teachers' Rest Room, Teachers' Lunch Room, and 
 various other rooms, as desirable adjuncts to the modern school. 
 
 What rooms could be made to serve more than one purpose? 
 
 Give an estimate of floor space needed and the proper proportions of 
 a classroom, in the three grades, namely, Primary, Grammar and High. 
 Give size of other rooms needed, other than regular classrooms. 
 
 Provided there are classrooms on either side of the corridor, what 
 should be the width of the corridor ? 
 
 If classrooms are placed on one side of the corridor, what should be 
 its width ? 
 
 A question which brought out interesting discussion was : Should the 
 basement floor level be below the outside grade? It was unanimously 
 decided that the basement floor, when used for playroom purposes, should 
 
34 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 not be lower than the outside ground level, and it was also unanimously 
 decided that in no case should classrooms be placed below grade level. 
 
 The question of gymnasiums indicated fully in the answers that the 
 open air gymnasium was most desired, but just how to accomplish this 
 and have the gymnasium serve its purpose on rainy days was only solved 
 in the preparation of the drawings and careful study of this feature. 
 
 Something like 200 other questions were asked, all of which were 
 reported on, some favorably, others unfavorably, but the drawings and 
 the buildings themselves are the best answers to all the questions. 
 
 The committee were unanimous on many points, but principally upon 
 these : that the buildings should be constructed of permanent material ; 
 that the classrooms be so designed that they could be easily converted 
 into open air rooms without exposing the children to the danger of 
 drafts ; that the sanitary and plumbing systems should be most modern ; 
 and that the heating and ventilating apparatus should be as perfect as 
 modern heating engineering could devise. 
 
 The factor of safety practically determined the materials which were 
 used, and in all cases reinforced concrete or steel frames fireproofed with 
 concrete and curtain walls of brick and architectural terra cotta or con 
 crete treated with a pleasing plaster finish were the materials which were 
 used in the construction. It will be noticed that almost all of this work 
 consists of one-story school buildings, located on liberal grounds. This 
 idea was earnestly urged by various civic organizations of the city. 
 
 The Open-air Classroom. 
 
 Just how to obtain the open air classroom and building was a problem 
 which gave us much thought and it required the elimination of many 
 window patents, for of course this must be acquired by the use of a 
 window which would take the place of the old double-hung, which at its 
 best can only allow one half of the frame open. The sash finally used 
 opens out to a sloping or horizontal position and the entire frame open 
 ing, which extends from a point two feet above the floor to the ceiling, 
 is divided into thirds, so that these three sashes are easily operated. This 
 permits the entire frame opening to be utilized for fresh air. 
 
 Coupled with this sash arrangement transoms, five and six in number, 
 were placed in the opposite wall of the classroom above the blackboard 
 close to the ceiling and opening into the corridors or cloisters. 
 
 In the schools now finished this proves to be a happy and desirable 
 arrangement, extremely healthful for the teacher and children. On a 
 warm day the entire side of one of these classrooms is opened, and with 
 the transoms opened on the opposite side the air is fresh and free from 
 odors. 
 
 The question might be asked, How does this operate on the sunny side 
 of the building? As a matter of fact the orientation of the building was 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 Inside of open-air classroom, looking toward the windows. Intended for anaemic children. 
 
 Interior of typical classroom, looking toward the ventilating transoms that open into the 
 
 corridor. 
 
36 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 planned so that sunshine might enter all classrooms at some time of the 
 day. The order of desirability in this section is east, west and south, 
 respectively, so one can easily see that at some period of the day the open 
 side of the classroom will receive the sun. The sashes, however, may be 
 
 A modern corridor, showing arrangement of transoms opening from classrooms. Note 
 ventilation, fire gong and hose reels. 
 
 opened to any angle up to 145 degrees with the normal, and opening the 
 sashes to the same angle, with the shades on the under side, the room 
 may be thrown open almost completely without sunshine coming into 
 the room. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 37 
 
 The Classrooms. 
 
 To return to the building proper it is necessary to take the classroom 
 as the first unit, and in following the recommendations of the committee, 
 a model room has been developed. The size of the room is 20 feet 
 6 inches (wide) by 31 feet 6 inches (long) and 13 feet high in the clear. 
 
 Back of the teacher's desk, about 4 feet 6 inches in width, and extend 
 ing the width of the room is the wardrobe and teachers' closet divided by 
 a low partition. On the various plans shown herewith the classroom 
 is well outlined, but it may be of service to the layman to further describe 
 it. The windows face on the east, west and south, as above mentioned, 
 as this orientation is adaptable for the Oakland climate, but in the 
 interior of the State, where the temperature is higher during the day, 
 the east, west and north orientation is much better. Light should enter 
 the classroom only from one side of the room, and that should be on the 
 left of the pupil, with the windows towards the rear of the room as far 
 back as possible and permissible with good construction and design. In 
 no room should light enter from more than one side, for if windows are 
 placed at the back of the room, not only is it disagreeable for the 
 teacher, but cross lights will occur on the desks of the pupils. 
 
 Classrooms have but one entrance and in the work in Oakland these 
 doors have been made 3 feet 6 inches in width. The wardrobe is inside 
 the classroom and free from the corridor in order to give the teacher 
 control and discipline. This, too, prevents petty pilfering, and in time 
 of danger from panic the teacher has many advantages at hand to pre 
 serve order. 
 
 As for the material of the rooms, this is a matter of choice depending 
 entirely upon economy, but in no case should anything but slate black 
 boards be used and substitutes chosen as a last resort. Chalk writing on 
 slate blackboard requires hardly any effort on the part of the student, 
 and the slate assists the child to acquire a legible form and an easy style. 
 On the other hand the usual substitute tends to retard the chalk and the 
 hand drags. On various tests made it was found that more chalk dust 
 is thrown off by the composition than by the slate. The height of the 
 chalk rails for the primary classes has been established 2 feet 2 inches 
 from the floor, for the grammar grades 2 feet 9 inches, and for the 
 high school grades 2 feet 10 inches. The height of the blackboard itself 
 is 3 feet, but the board back of the teacher's desk is 4 feet 6 inches in 
 height. 
 
 Sanitary picture molds and bases are provided in all classrooms and 
 corridors, and the door stiles and window stools have very little projec 
 tion, thus eliminating dust-catching surfaces. 
 
38 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The room is heated both by air drawn from above the roof, passing 
 over a steam radiator stack and forced by fans into the rooms through 
 ducts leading from the fan chamber, also by direct radiation ; that is, by 
 radiators placed under the windows. The indirect system is to be used 
 only on very cold or damp days and the direct system when it is neces 
 sary to warm the room for a brief period when the sunshine is not on 
 that side of the building. A complete account of the heating system is 
 given later on. 
 
 Rooms other than Classrooms. 
 
 The honorary commission were unanimous in the opinion that all new 
 school buildings should contain an Assembly Hall which would seat from 
 400 to 800. Inasmuch as the Assembly Hall was to be used for public 
 
 'jpr-.^*- - - 
 
 ijfeag 
 
 J4L.-JB* 
 
 
 Floor plan of the Emerson School, nineteen rooms. The patios are paved and have 
 fountain in center. Includes rooms for domestic science, modeling, plants, manual training, 
 lunches, principal, assembly, play, rest and kindergarten. 
 
 purposes, such as lectures, political discussions and free entertainments, 
 and as it was an adjunct to the Club Room and the Branch Library, these 
 rooms were in all cases placed close to each other. The corridors to the 
 classrooms are shut off from trespass by collapsible gates. 
 
 Each Assembly Hall contains a fireproof moving picture room elec 
 trically equipped for both stereopticon and kinetoscope pictures. 
 
 The Principal's Suite generally consists of a reception room, main 
 office, and small library with a map room in close proximity. 
 
 Teachers' Lunch and Rest Rooms, have been provided, and in the 
 former a small kitchen, in the form of an alcove, is a part of the room. 
 This kitchen will contain gas range, sink and cupboards so that the 
 teachers can provide a warm lunch for themselves. In nearly all cases 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 39 
 
 the Teachers' Rest Room has been placed in a pleasant location and 
 possesses a pleasing outlook. Toilets and lavatories are provided in 
 connection with the rest room, and the Board of Education intends to 
 furnish these rest rooms with comfortable and suitable furniture. The 
 Medical Room, which is located near the Principal's Suite, contains bath, 
 toilet and medicine closet, together with an electric heater for preparing 
 water quickly. 
 
 Considerable discussion arose at one of the meetings as to the uses of 
 the Club Room, it being debated whether this room should be given up 
 entirely to club freedom and privileges, which would include smoking 
 and possibly billiard playing. The latter was not seriously considered, 
 
 Emerson School, one story, reinforced concrete, cement finish, trimmed with brick, red 
 tile roof. The cloisters serve as playgrounds during wet weather, and give openness and 
 freedom of circulation. One of the very best examples. 
 
 but in regard to the former it was thought that this club room should be 
 a place where the men of the community might go in the evening and 
 feel at home and enjoy the comforts and pleasures a man might expect 
 in a well regulated club. Accordingly the room was to be pleasingly 
 designed, and in many cases it contains fireplaces, reading tables, and 
 comfortable chairs. 
 
 As the Mothers' Club was also to meet here, in the afternoon, it was 
 thought wise to provide a small kitchen, with gas range, sink and cup 
 board, so that afternoon teas might be served there to the members. 
 
 The Library, adjacent to the Club Room, will be used as a reference 
 library for the Club's use as well as for distribution of books. 
 
40 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Now to the casual reader it may seem that the city of Oakland has 
 gone to considerable expense in providing these features. The criticism 
 may arise from some quarters that this is not a part of the school build 
 ing, but the Commission to a unit were heartily in favor of it, believing 
 
 
 . 
 .r .. 
 
 J. B. McChesney School, built of reinforced concrete, with panels of cement and brick 
 
 trimming. 
 
 that the civic good warranted the expense, and that it would bring the 
 people in closer touch with their schools as well as provide a meeting 
 place where questions relating to the public good might be thoroughly 
 discussed and understood, and inasmuch as almost every community has 
 its Improvement Club, banded together for the general welfare of its 
 section, there is no doubt but that these few building adjuncts will well 
 serve their purpose. 
 
 Fire Precautions. 
 
 A word on the precautions taken. To prevent fires and to give warn 
 ing should they occur : All boiler rooms have been encased by walls and 
 
 J. B. McChesney School, 7 classrooms. Note the open arcade, giving abundant 
 playroom in wet weather. 
 
 ceilings of fireproof material. The doors leading to these rooms are 
 metal clad, likewise the frames and the window sashes. In some cases 
 the outside windows are constructed of hollow metal and all buildings of 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 41 
 
 the future will contain this provision. Hose reels are placed every 100 
 feet and fire-alarm gongs are placed near them. 
 
 Another precaution, taken to prevent danger from panic is that of the 
 arrangement of the doors and hardware attached. First of all the class 
 room doors open outward, and can be locked only from the outside and 
 
 Fifty-fourth and Market Primary School, one story, six classrooms. 
 
 never can the door be closed to one inside the room. What is true of 
 the classroom doors is also true of all doors in the building and every 
 entrance door is equipped with panic bolts, locked only from the exterior, 
 which when pushed against open wide. 
 
 The electrical work, while not elaborate, has been well studied. All 
 grammar classrooms are lighted by semi-indirect fixtures for evening 
 
 Fifty-fourth and Market Primary School, looking toward playground. Note how cloisters 
 and corridors are formed. Fixed sashes shut away the noise of railroad trains 200 feet away 
 which pass every two minutes. 
 
42 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 study. The halls, corridors and club rooms are also equipped with light 
 ing fixtures. 
 
 Some of the special features are the intercommunicating telephone 
 system and the program clocks and gongs. The former system is such 
 that the principal may talk to one teacher or all of the teachers at the 
 same time. The program clocks are regulated by a master clock and 
 the program gongs controlled by push buttons in the principal's office. 
 
 Manual Training Building. 
 
 It will be noted that the building is composed of pavilions connected by 
 corridors. It is two stories in height and the lower left-hand pavilion 
 is to be used for the Commercial courses. The pavilion next to it is the 
 
 Fifty-fourth and Market Street Primary School. Six classrooms, kindergarten, assembly, 
 neighborhood club room, principal's suite, teachers' rest room, emergency room, lunch room, 
 One story, with patios inside the cloister. 
 
 Academic Department and the central building is the Administration 
 Department and Assembly Hall, the latter seating 1,700 people. The 
 pavilion next to the Assembly Hall is the Science Department, to be 
 used in the study of Chemistry, Physics, Geology and Botany. The 
 pavilion toward the lower right-hand corner is for Domestic Science 
 and Arts, and contains classrooms for Millinery, Dressmaking, Cloak- 
 making, Cooking, Laundering. A very unique feature, on the second 
 floor, is the Apartment Suite which in itself contains a Living Room 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 43 
 
 with its fireplace, Dining Room, Kitchen, Pantry, Bedroom and Bath 
 room. Two girls will be assigned each week for the care of the apart 
 ment and the entertainment which will be connected with it. 
 
 The pavilion just to the west of this is the Drawing Department, so. 
 placed as to receive the best light, and this department will probably be 
 
 -; 
 
 Elevation of Lockwood School on a 17-acre site. Ten rooms at present. 
 
 one of the best equipped of its kind in the country. On the second floor 
 are the free-hand, modeling, photography and architectural drawing 
 rooms, and on the lower floor the mechanical drawing rooms with rooms 
 for models. 
 
 * - - 
 
 4 
 
 * I 
 
 
 :IIM:: i:jprj , .nj-f 
 
 : : 
 
 Lockwood School, reinforced concrete frame with walls of terra cotta blocks. Note the 
 open cloister effect. An example of the unit plan. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Floor plan of Lakeview School, three stories high. A notable feature is the boys and 
 girls outdoor gymnasium and the experimental gardens. 
 
 Photograph of Claremont or College Avenue School, eleven classrooms and accessory rooms. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 45 
 
 
 f ' 
 
 Bird's-eye view of the Claremont or College Avenue School. Reinforced concrete, trimmed 
 with terra cotta, tile roof. 
 
 West street elevation of Durant School. Reinforced concrete, trimmed in terra cotta, with 
 red tile roof. One of the best two-story buildings. 
 
 w . ?W'"^>ML-^v^WL-J -r- '' " . !..**' 
 
 ( \ 
 
 
 Bird's-eye view of Dewey School. Reinforced concrete throughout, made up of classrooms 
 and cloisters. Assembly hall in one of end pavilions, manual training and domestic science 
 in the other. 
 
46 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Note on the cut below the smaller buildings to the west of the main 
 building and just north of the campus. These are the shops. There are 
 four buildings in all, connected by a long corridor which divides each 
 building into two shops. Building No. I contains the Machine Shop on 
 the south and the Forge Shop on the north. Building No. 2 the Foundry 
 on the south and the Electrical Shop on the north. Building No. 3 the 
 Carpentry Shop on the south and the Metals Shop on the north. Build 
 ing No. 4 the Pattern Shop on the south and the Cabinet Shop on the 
 north. 
 
 , - - 4 
 
 
 Manual Training and Commercial High School. 
 
 Each of these shops is large and spacious, each being approximately 
 177 feet by 47 feet, one story in height. They are designed and built to 
 look exactly like shops both exterior and interior, resembling the 
 modern motor shops of the East. 
 
 The buildings to the south of the campus are the Boys' and Girls' 
 Gymnasiums, with enclosures at each end. 
 
 This building and site cost $600,000. Fifteen months were spent in 
 study and preparation of the drawings and specifications, and the archi 
 tectural planning was done in conjunction with the department heads, so 
 that the success of the school is due almost entirely to this collaboration. 
 The space required for each department, the arrangements of the desks, 
 tables and fixtures, was first laid out and then, one might say, the build 
 ing was built around them. The length of the east fagade is 851 feet. 
 A unique feature was worked out at the main entrance. Here the 
 entrance platform is larger than the stage platform and will seat approxi 
 mately eighty people, and it is here that the graduating classes may hold 
 their commencement exercises facing the amphitheater-like foreground, 
 which will be a sloping lawn where as many as 10,000 people may be 
 seated. 
 
 Plumbing. 
 
 In the past the plumbing of our schools included the abominable 
 latrine water-closets and urinals, which are nothing less than open cess 
 pools. These latrines were cast iron troughs which contain the waste 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 47 
 
 matter until a bucket filled by dripping water overbalances and ineffectu 
 ally flushes the trough. Sometimes this flush works and sometimes it 
 doesn't, and when it fails to perform its function the janitor is called in 
 to use a hose. This may be all right in some places where they have a 
 good janitor, but I can safely say that without exception school build- 
 
 Objectionable latrine urinals with cast iron stalls. Out of date. 
 
 ings containing these latrines are not fit places for even the lowest 
 animals to frequent, to say nothing of the little children placed under 
 the care of a fostering and well meaning community. 
 
 The latrines in school buildings, where additions were added, were 
 torn out, and in all the additions, as well as all the new buildings indi 
 vidual vitreous china water-closets and urinals of the very best make 
 were installed. 
 
 The water-closets are of the wash-down or syphon jet make, weighing 
 about 45 pounds each, and are provided in all cases with a back vent, 
 which is known in the plumbing trade as the Boston vent, the use of 
 which will be described later on. 
 
 The urinals are the one-piece vitreous china urinal, about 18 inches 
 wide and 4 feet 6 inches high, extending down below the floor and sepa 
 rated from each other by approximately 6 to 8 inches, so that the space 
 between each urinal can be cleaned and flushed. The roughing of these 
 urinals is so arranged that a free vent is obtained from the room to the 
 utility chamber back of the wall to the rear of the urinals. There are 
 about 20 of these urinals and 30 water-closets in each school, and we 
 
48 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 have not found this installation much more expensive than the old latrine 
 system, but we have found it to be sanitary, hygienic, and clean. 
 
 Having disposed of what the fixtures of the toilets should be, an all 
 important question arose as to how the toilet room itself should be 
 vented, for to force air in at the top of the room and draw it out through 
 a register face at the base of one of the walls meant that foul odors must 
 pass across the faces of pupils and into their lungs. To avoid this the 
 
 Objectionable and obsolete latrine toilet. Should be discarded. 
 
 utility chamber was devised for both water-closets and urinals and a gal 
 vanized iron duct was brought into the utility chamber from a suction 
 fan in the basement, which also served to force the foul air from its fan 
 chamber to the roof. The back vent from the water-closet penetrates 
 the wall of the utility chamber and the vent from the roughing to the 
 urinal opens into its chamber and as these chambers were made almost 
 air-tight, all foul odors and the air of the room are drawn downward 
 through the fixtures into these chambers, thence to the fan chamber and 
 thence to the roof. 
 
 The supply of fresh air is taken through one of the many windows 
 which light the toilet rooms, each room lighted directly by daylight. 
 
 To further obtain a sanitary condition the walls, ceiling and metal stall 
 are painted with several coats of white enamel paint on top of three good 
 coats of lead and oil. The floors of the toilet rooms are laid with a 
 mastic cement, likewise the sanitary base, so that these rooms are immac 
 ulately white with the exception of the dark mastic floor. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 49 
 
 Sanitary drinking fountains have been amply provided in the yards 
 and corridors. In the yards the fountains are enameled iron to prevent 
 breakage, and in the corridors they are vitreous china and of a simple 
 but good design. Individual vitreous china lavatories have also been 
 provided, and the faucets attached to the lavatory are of the water clos 
 ing pressure type, so that all that is necessary for the child to do is to 
 
 
 Modern up-to-date plumbing. Vitreous china urinals and toilets with utility chamber. 
 
 press the button on top of the faucet and a stream of water flows for a 
 period of three to ten seconds as the faucet may be regulated. The 
 Board of Education at its last meeting, October 6, 1913, abolished 
 entirely the roller towel. Therefore with the conditions as provided 
 above good results should be obtained. 
 
 Heating and Ventilating Apparatus. 
 
 The problem of heating and ventilation for the Oakland schools was 
 given considerable study with the idea of designing a plant which would 
 give much better conditions in the schoolrooms than has been the general 
 practice. It was determined that a fresh air supply of 2,250 cubic feet 
 of air per minute should be delivered to each standard classroom, this 
 amount being equivalent to 50 cubic feet per pupil and producing an air 
 change in the classrooms of approximately twenty-one times per hour or 
 a little better than a complete air change every three minutes. 
 
 The manual training and domestic science rooms have been provided 
 with about ten complete changes of air per hour. 
 
50 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The plants have all been designed on the basis of direct radiation for 
 heating and supplementary air supply for ventilation only, with the idea 
 that either portion of the system might be run singly if desired, and that 
 a better heat regulation would be obtained with the double system. 
 
 In line with this idea direct radiators have been placed under the 
 windows in each of the classrooms, provided with solid screens in front 
 of same to obviate the possibility of any disagreeable radiating effects 
 on the pupils sitting close to the radiators. Each classroom has been 
 provided with automatic temperature control arranged to operate the 
 supply valves on the direct radiators, thereby directly controlling the 
 amount of heat necessary to supply the demands of the rooms. 
 
 The air supply is delivered to the classrooms through a large screened 
 opening at the platform end of the room and at an elevation of about 
 9 feet above the floor, and foul air exhaust is provided through the two 
 coatroom doors and thence through the ceiling of the coatroom to the 
 attic. This arrangement keeps the coatrooms thoroughly ventilated with 
 an exceedingly large volume of air at all times. 
 
 Each fresh-air inlet opening has been provided with deflecting plates 
 to break up the direct-air currents, and to avoid draughts in the rooms. 
 
 Low pressure cast iron sectional boilers have been installed for the 
 supply of steam to the direct radiators in the rooms, and also for the 
 supply of steam to the indirect tempering stacks which warm the air for 
 ventilation whenever the temperature outside is below the desired tem 
 perature of the air admitted to the classrooms. 
 
 The steam boilers and system of piping have been arranged on the 
 gravity principle so that no mechanical apparatus is necessary for the 
 return of condensation to the boilers, and this is effected solely by gravity 
 both from the direct radiators and from the tempering coils. 
 
 The main fresh-air inlets have been placed in or near the roof, as far 
 from the street level as possible, and the air is drawn into the building 
 through a large air shaft, then passed through the tempering coil and 
 finally delivered through the main ventilating fans from which a system 
 of galvanized iron ducts leads to the several rooms. 
 
 In all cases where it has been impossible to locate the air inlet near the 
 roof of the building, air washers have been installed for the thorough 
 cleaning of the air. These washers are of the spray type in which all of 
 the air is drawn through a fine spray of water. 
 
 The fresh air supply fans are of the housed pattern, some of the 
 ordinary paddle-wheel type and others of the later multiblade pattern; 
 and these are all designed to run at moderate speeds to avoid excessive 
 pressure and so as to operate without noise. All of the fans are driven 
 by means of alternating current motors and ordinary leather belt drives. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 51 
 
 A thermostat in the main fresh air chamber controls the supply of 
 steam to the tempering coil and consequently maintains the temperature 
 of the air admitted to the classrooms at a constant point of about 65 to 
 70 degrees. 
 
 The main toilets in each building are ventilated by a special exhaust 
 fan of the same general type and style as the fresh air fans above 
 described. These toilet exhaust fans are designed to handle sufficient 
 air to produce fifteen to twenty changes of air per hour in the toilet 
 rooms and all of this air is drawn from the utility chambers behind the 
 toilet fixtures, each fixture communicating with this chamber by a special 
 vent opening through the fixture itself; thus producing the very maxi 
 mum of exhaust ventilating efficiency by drawing all of the air immedi 
 ately from the most objectionable points. 
 
 All of the boilers are operated with fuel oil burned by the latest types 
 of burners which produce the maximum of economy in fuel consumption. 
 
 In the installation of oil burning apparatus an equivalent evaporation 
 of twelve pounds of water per pound of fuel oil has been demanded and 
 in the one school tested at the present writing this demand has been 
 exceeded by a little over 10 per cent. 
 
 Burners of the air atomizing and mechanical atomizing types will be 
 installed, thus supplying the latest improvements in the method of fuel 
 consumption. The burners and their machinery operate automatically, 
 thus requiring the minimum of attention and skill on the part of the 
 person in charge. 
 
 In conclusion, do not select a site until you know the size of the build 
 ing you are to build, and determine the size of the building by the 
 requirements, then have a sketch made of the building which will meet 
 the wants, and from that point the size of ttye site can be determined 
 upon. If this method is followed there will be fewer heart burnings and 
 disappointments. The usual method, which is generally wrong, is to 
 guess at the size of the site, misjudge the appropriation for the building, 
 and in the end receive not what is required but a makeshift instead. 
 
52 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following pages were prepared after the report of the Jury of 
 Architects was completed, so that body must not be considered re 
 sponsible for any of them. 
 
 * * * 
 
 It is of interest to all school builders to know that the law of 1872, 
 requiring advertising for plans and specifications and letting of con 
 tracts to architects whose plans have been accepted is not considered as 
 operative at the present time. The Attorney General in an opinion 
 rendered December 6, 1912, holds that the law has been repealed by 
 
 The first open-air school. Charlottenburg, Germany, in 1904. 
 
 later legislation on the same subject. School boards, therefore, have a 
 right under the present law to employ architects for school buildings 
 without advertising for plans when they choose to do so. 
 
 'Tis true that we can not spend too much money upon our children. 
 Undeniably money spent upon the better training of its young people is 
 a good investment for any municipality, one that returns to the com 
 munity many times and in many ways. 
 
 Yet this should not make an occasion for prodigality or for unwise 
 expenditures. It is quite possible to spend great sums that do not really 
 benefit the children, that the children do not need. It is easy to spend the 
 money that some one else must pay. It is such a simple matter to vote a 
 hundred thousand dollars in bonds payable twenty or thirty years hence 
 that thrifty people should take warning and should look somewhat for 
 ward into the future. These bonds must be paid. Moreover, they must 
 not only be paid, but they must be paid twice over, since in less than 
 twenty years the interest exceeds the principal. Worse still, in less than 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 53 
 
 twenty years a schoolhouse grows old, inadequate, out of style. The 
 architecture of to-day is the amusement of to-morrow. 
 
 Therefore, think twice before you too heavily saddle the burden of 
 debt upon the future of your neighborhood. Paying for a dead horse 
 looks ill to us. Perhaps it may seem still more galling to our grand 
 children when they are called on to pay half a million for an obsolete, 
 impossible schoolhouse ! 
 
 * * * 
 
 More strongly every year is California school architecture marked 
 by adaptations of the outdoor idea. Probably the ultimate plan will be 
 
 An English open-air school. Introduced in the suburbs of London in 1907. 
 
 practically an outdoor schoolhouse, because this state is peculiarly fitted 
 for it. If it is better for the health and growth of the children and costs 
 less money to build, why in the name of Heaven should it not become 
 the dominant feature of our architecture ? Answer that if you can ! 
 
 Here follow some pictures showing the development of the outdoor 
 idea in recent years. 
 
 Schools are here and there discarding the time honored school desk 
 because it restrains freedom of movement and hampers actual work. 
 It does not fit into real life, because neither before nor afterward do 
 people live in wooden cages. The increasing variety of school activities 
 is likely to push out more and more the formal school furniture. The 
 following letter from a teacher in San Diego County, with its two little 
 pictures, illustrates this point: 
 
 "I want to tell you about a receptacle for the pupils' text-books 
 that our board has placed in the schoolroom. 
 
54 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 We are using a table and chair for each pupil, instead of a desk, 
 and like them very much. The pupil may place his table and chair 
 in any part of the room or in any position that is most comfortable. 
 
 But the question has been, What shall we do with the books when 
 they are to be put away? The library is crowded and each pupil 
 needs a space of his own. 'Necessity is the mother of invention,' 
 so we thought out a plan and had a box made along the side of the 
 room. This box is 16 inches high, 16 inches wide and 33 feet long. 
 
 The top has three long lids made of 6 and lo-inch boards; the 
 6-inch one fastened to the partitions and the lo-inch board fastened 
 to the 6-inch one by strap hinges. 
 
 When these are closed down, it makes a very comfortable seat to 
 sit on, either at a class recitation or a social center gathering. 
 
 Receptacle for text-books at 
 School. Open. 
 
 La Mesa 
 
 Receptacle for books at La Mesa School. 
 Closed, it is useful as a seat. 
 
 The box has no back or bottom, so at any time it may be drawn 
 out and the floor cleaned. It is made of clear surfaced boards at 
 a cost of about 45 cents per linear foot. 
 
 Inside the box are partitions 12 inches apart and each pupil has 
 one apartment thus made for his books. The teacher also has quite 
 a large space for supplies that are needed every day. That part of 
 the box near the stove has a space for coal and kindling. 
 
 We don't know how we ever taught school without it. GRACE) 
 M. STEPHENSON, La Mesa Heights School." 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 55 
 
 An open-air school in New Orleans. 
 
 Open-air classroom in Massachusetts. Heat supplied by food and con 
 fined by hoods and blankets. 
 
56 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Front view of the beautiful Hacienda open-air school in Santa Clara County. 
 
 Interior of Hacienda School, showing open-air features. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 57 
 
 C. Bryant Shaefer, in the School Board Journal, suggests an idea 
 that is worth thinking about placing halls outside instead of inside 
 the schoolhouse. His remarks and his pictures follow : 
 
 Why build schoolhouses with great enclosed hallways? 
 
 Why have stairways in a dangerous pocket? 
 
 Why make buildings hard to get into and worse to get out of? 
 
 It is better for children to accommodate themselves to moderate 
 accessories than to wean them from open air, activity and self-help 
 fulness, with old people's comforts. It is more economical now and 
 in the years to come. 
 
 In this suggested design for a schoolhouse a front porch on each 
 story serves for the usual hallway, which is so costly to build and 
 
 An interesting suggestion. Why 
 not build the hallways outside in 
 stead of inside? 
 
 expensive to heat. The open stairways are independent for each 
 floor. They do not need ventilation, or heating ; they cannot fill with 
 smoke and even in a wood structure would be the last thing to burn. 
 
 The materials of construction may be concrete, brick or any 
 accessible fireproof material. That is for the local architect to 
 decide. 
 
 While educators are recommending open windows and open-air 
 studies would it not be healthier and more economical to dispense 
 with some of the unnecessary interior arrangements in order to 
 accomplish the same object? 
 
 In building schoolhouses, the school board should well consider what 
 it owes to the community in the way of protection from fire and panic. 
 The school board is responsible for seeing that all buildings are panic 
 proof, all new buildings fireproof and all old buildings fire retarding. 
 
58 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The terrible Collinwood fire in 1908 burned 173 children and two 
 teachers to death a terrible, a heart-rending tragedy. How would you 
 feel if you were the trustees in like case? 
 
 Yet the Collinwood disaster was not the result of unusual carelessness 
 or unusual construction. It was a brick building with wooden floors 
 and partitions. The doors were double and the stairs were open. The 
 cellar was not fireproof and the heating apparatus was defective. It was 
 no whit worse than tens of thousands of other American schools that 
 dot the landscape to-day. Most children escape being burned to death 
 
 w^J 4=- 
 LLLrl 
 
 Side view of open-air school at College Park, in Santa Clara County. 
 
 because most fires occur when schools are not in session. Safety results 
 from two things careful thought and thoughtful care. Assembly rooms 
 should be on the ground floor, so that egress shall be easy. Basement 
 fires spread through open stairways. Halls and stairways should be 
 unobstructed. Properly built stairs with hand rails make the best fire 
 escapes and should always be fireproof, because in panics people try to 
 escape by the exits they commonly use. The use of noncombustible 
 material for the outside walls does not ensure safety from fire. Wooden 
 walls may blaze within a concrete shell, as wooden sticks blaze within 
 an iron stove. In each case the flames are fanned by a draft. Drafts 
 are dangerous. Stair wells and air shafts should be isolated by fireproof 
 walls and doors. Cut the attic by a partition. Avoid drafts everywhere 
 as a pestilence. 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 59 
 
 A California school superintendent should make himself an authority 
 upon school building. He should know what is being done in other 
 places, should know the good features to be repeated, the bad points to 
 be avoided, should be able to pass judgment promptly and intelligently 
 upon school plans, should be able to advise and help school officers with 
 
 See this happy little San Diego County school studying under the pepper 
 trees, where the fierce light is tempered by the shade. 
 
 their improvements. The superintendent's office should be a head 
 quarters for ideas and for discussions about school building and school 
 improvement. Photographs, plans, drawings, diagrams, books, should 
 be found there, illustrating the latest and best ideas concerning the archi 
 tecture, heating, lighting, ventilating, planting and fire protection of our 
 
60 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 schools: The superintendent has a special responsibility here that he 
 must not lose sight of in the hurly burly of other duties. 
 
 * * * 
 
 To improve a thing we must reform its worst points. Unquestionably, 
 the worst point about the rural school is its water-closets. As a rule, 
 these closets, particularly those of the boys, are in a* filthy and shameless 
 condition and for a very good reason because they are not cleaned 
 and inspected properly. It seems to be a self-perpetuating nuisance 
 the boys of to-day continually see these buildings in a wet, unwholesome 
 
 Interior of College Park Open-air School. Observe fine effect in cheerful demeanor of pupils, 
 even in presence of county superintendent and teachers. 
 
 condition, marked by every obscene device and thought that can be made 
 by knife or pencil or chalk. They become familiar with these things 
 and expect them to be so and they are so, and continue so when the 
 boys grow to be the men. 
 
 It is a bad thing for our small children to come in constant contact 
 with uncleanness and immorality on their school grounds. This con 
 dition is not found at the homes ; why should we tolerate it at the school ? 
 If we can clean up the school closets and keep them clean, it will be a 
 fine piece of work, one that we shall have a right to be proud of no less 
 praiseworthy than floating the American flag from the schoolhouse or 
 planting it about with trees. 
 
 The way to accomplish this reform is this : 
 
 First Put the closets into thoroughly good condition clean, new, 
 brightly painted, with no suggestion of their old rottenness to be seen 
 
SCHOOL ARCPIITECTURE. 
 
 61 
 
 at all. Hinged seats should be provided, or urinals of wood or iron. 
 Sanded walls are a good thing, too. Everything should be made of 
 double strength, so that rough and heavy use can not damage it. 
 
 Second Turn the clean closets over to the teacher and janitor, and 
 insist upon their having the same attention as other school property 
 daily sweeping and scrubbing when necessary and constant watchful 
 ness. The teacher will be able to manage the children if she is held 
 responsible for it ; and if outside trespassers offend, bring them to 
 justice if possible, but let the school repair the injury at once. Furnish 
 the janitor with paint, disinfectants, tools, when he needs them. Have 
 
 Open-air classroom at San Bernardino. Who would not enjoy this? 
 
 a distinct understanding with the janitor as to the things to be done. 
 Let the trustee inspect the closets whenever he goes near, and make 
 somebody smoke for every neglect and they will stay clean ! 
 
 Schools are changing continually to admit the real world, to let in 
 the activities and the life of the men and women who are doing bread 
 and butter things in the world of to-day. Manual training, for instance, 
 is eagerly welcomed everywhere. 
 
 Now, there are different ways of taking in the manual idea. One is 
 the perfectly ladylike way, where a beautiful and expensive room is 
 expensively fitted up with lovely varnished benches, and a world of 
 bright and shining tools arranged in perfect order in drawers and racks, 
 possibly tied up with pink ribbon. The children march in stiffly and 
 spend an hour a week in making cunning little matchsafes, ribbon boxes, 
 
62 
 
 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Here is the famous Fresno Out-door School that has been duplicated so many times in the 
 
 State. 
 
 Red Bluff Manual Training Building, as originally built by the boys. Size 24 by 40, 
 
 cost $600 
 
SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 63 
 
 pin trays, beautifully sandpapered and adorned with complex designs 
 in colors. 
 
 This sort of a thing is well adapted to school life, but it is not real 
 life, and the children soon discover that it' is only a feeble pedagogical 
 imitation of the real thing. 
 
 Fortunate is the school that can undertake and carry out a piece of 
 work that the world can see and recognize, something that is real man's 
 work or woman's work, some big and striking thing that commands 
 attention and respect in the work-a-day world outside. The big boys 
 and big girls don't leave such a school, but stay with it to the end, and 
 
 Red Bluff Manual Training Building after first change, size 24 by 60. 
 
 develop in it a steadiness and power of will and judgment that .stay with 
 them and serve them through life. This is genuine manual training. 
 The idea is graphically illustrated in the four accompanying photo 
 graphs. 
 
 The original building was 24 by 40 feet in size. This proved too 
 small for the increasing interest, so it was cut in two, one end moved out 
 and a 2O-foot addition built between the two parts. This again became 
 too small, so it was split, one side moved out 28 feet and a two-story 
 building interpolated. 
 
 This makes an excellent building 52 by 60 feet, containing blacksmith 
 shop, wood-working shop and finishing room. It is equipped with 
 home-made benches and lockers. All of the work, from the drafting of 
 plans to the painting, including the cement work, was done by the boys 
 of the school, without any outside assistance. The total cost is less than 
 
64 SCHOOL ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 $2,000. It is a comfortable size for the fifty boys of the school and it is 
 their own they made it. What a magnificent experience it was, to 
 
 every one who helped ! 
 
 * * * 
 
 This publication does not give much direct help to the builders of 
 small, one-room schools. The small schoolhouse naturally does not 
 
 Red Bluff Manual Training Building. Splitting its shell for the third transformation. A 
 genuine piece of work by the boys. 
 
 Red Bluff Manual Training Building in its final form, 52 by 60, cost $2,000. All work 
 
 done by the boys. 
 
 appeal so strongly to architects as do the more ambitious structures, 
 therefore it never gets so much professional attention. Later we shall 
 make good this lack by issuing another bulletin devoted entirely to the 
 rural, one-room school.