Everett Green Schoolyard

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

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Lotus Water wrote a successful $1.9M grant application pro bono to help jumpstart this project with a vision of integrating flexible green areas to transform a monolithic asphalt schoolyard into richly programmed space to support holistic child development, while also managing stormwater runoff from over 2 acres of impervious area.

The project is replacing over 8,500 square-feet of pavement to install bioretention planters, trees, and traditional landscaping. Native plant species were selected to support local biodiversity, including plants favorable to all life stages of the threatened checkerspot butterfly. An "infiltrative" turf field will replace uneven pavement, providing an improved practice space for sports teams; it also manages stormwater from half of the schoolyard. A cistern collecting 2,000 square-feet of rooftop is paired with a bioretention planter in the teacher's interior courtyard to highlight how rainwater is collected and routed to sustain vegetation on-site. Lotus performed all Civil Engineering duties on the project, including technical design of multi-functional green infrastructure that provides climate resiliency, restores hydrologic function to the landscaping, and enhances local ecology. Construction is expected to complete in Spring 2025.