LPA's stormwater treatment plan cuts costs and improves campus flow

The Challenge:

Temple City High School faced an array of challenges and constraints on the site chosen for new classroom buildings. In addition, Los Angeles County mandates strict requirements for stormwater quality management. All rainwater runoff from large expanses of roof and pavement needed to be treated on-site.

The Solution:

LPA’s integrated team collaborated across disciplines to address the programmatic needs, site constraints and regulatory requirements. Civil engineers and landscape architects designed a series of bioswales throughout the site to collect and treat all stormwater. Structural engineers worked with architects to slope the building rooflines to drain directly into the bioswales below.

Where constraints emerged from the site or structural systems, the team looked for opportunities to add value by simplifying the design through modularization. Sloping the rooflines toward bioswales eliminated the need for separate overflow drains, simplifying the drainage system and reducing costs. Strategically placing scuppers and openings in a modular pattern minimized complications in construction and rebar coordination, saving engineering and construction expenses. Adjusting the roof pitches to penetrate shear walls saved on materials and construction complexity. The bioswale integration treated stormwater on-site at a lower cost than traditional piped infrastructure. The design also incorporated the development of outdoor learning spaces, which added educational environments without significantly increasing costs.

“Working together as a team allowed us to be creative in ways that working independently wouldn’t,” says Technical Director Daniel Chong. “The end result is more than the sum of its parts—it’s a true campus that flows.”