Forest Hills — As four students from Central Middle School presented their thoughtfully designed 1,700-square-foot, two-story home, architect John Den Boer was impressed with the overall design. But he did have one question: “Where are you going to do the laundry?”
“We had it in there, but the design must have gotten changed and it was not added in,” said eighth-grader Enzo Czeranna, one of the project’s designers.
With some design suggestions, including reducing the size of a bedroom and cutting the adjoining bathroom in half, Den Boer showed the students how they could adjust their layout to add a laundry area.
Den Boer, a senior architect and director of K-12 education at TowerPinkster, and other members of his firm were visiting the school’s green architecture class, the newest offering from the school’s Project Lead the Way series.
“The Project Lead the Way classes are designed for students to explore more about each career field and understand what they can do now to prepare themselves for entering these careers,” said teacher Avery Barry.
Designing the Dwelling
Central offers three Project Lead the Way courses: medical detectives, flight and space, and green architecture; all are one semester and offered to both seventh- and eighth-graders. Along with hands-on projects, students participate in field trips and collaborate with professionals in the field.
The green architecture course was added in the 2024 winter semester, Barry said. Through the course, students explore architecture and construction by learning dimensioning, measurement and sustainability while designing affordable housing using Autodesk® 3D software.
Students are given specifications they must use to design a single-family dwelling, Barry said; the style of house, such as a ranch or a two-story, is up to the students. Once they’ve completed their design, they begin the process of learning how to incorporate sustainability elements.
Barry said she wanted to give students an opportunity to work with real-world architects who would review their projects through critique sessions, similar to professional project reviews. She invited employees of the Grand Rapids-based architect and engineering firm TowerPinkster to do so; each staff member met with about three different student groups during their visit.
Meeting with the Experts
As Den Boer looked at the design that Enzo’s group created, he said he liked the overall layout of the three-bedroom, three-bath house.
He also had a few critiques: Noting a hallway positioned along an exterior wall, he explained to the students that placing hallways in the center of a home is a more efficient use of space. He also asked why there was no front door.
“We decided to not add a front door because people could enter through the garage,” explained seventh-grader Briggs Johnsons-Brower, who said he sees people enter their homes through a garage more often than a front door.
Enzo said meeting with Den Boer and the other architects helped the group improve their house design.
“Having somebody who is actually in the profession, showing you real-life problems and solutions, does give you a better sense of what it takes to design something,” said seventh-grader Lucas Renner, who with Enzo, Briggs and seventh-grader Jackson Keller designed the house Den Boer looked at.
For Den Boer, it’s an opportunity to introduce students to the world of architecture and share insight into his profession.
“In high school, students often have decided what career path they are going to take,” he said. “Having this experience and being able to visit (the middle school), gives us the opportunity to expose students to the many jobs that are possible in the architecture/design field.”
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