Amherst Regional High School

This site level component of the Master’s Project, completed at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, recommends stream restoration, daylighting and innovative stormwater management to support the high school environmental sciences curricula, to improve water quality and to create habitat at Amherst Regional High School. These steps are part of an overall vision for the urbanized Tan Brook Watershed in Amherst, MA to become a resilient ecosystem which can sustain ecological, economic and social systems, while serving as a model for other communities to improve their watersheds function. Research and assessment maps have already been used by the town of Amherst, UMass Amherst and Amherst Regional High School to apply for grants to study the Tan Brook Watershed in depth.

Vegetation System
The proposed vegetation strategy eliminates invasive plant species and uses native vegetation and plant communities to provide visual references to place and provides connections to the broader ecological context of the site. Using the Watershed gradient model as inspiration, plant community typologies of red maple swamp, emergent wetland and flood plain help to illustrate on a micro scale the experience of traveling through the Tan Brook Watershed and define eco-region according to plant communities.

Circulation System
The proposed circulation system provides a clear system for pedestrians and vehicles to move through the site at varying scales of speed and numbers. It links active, passive and learning uses as a comprehensive network. Following the paths of the proposed system, the traveler might experience a lacrosse game, an emergent wetland, a reflective gathering place or a vehicle corridor that can be cordoned off for street parties and gathering at lunch.

Hydrologic System
The proposed system creates opportunities for infiltration, interception and storage in ways that pre-development hydrological processes handle flux in water volumes.

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