LPA's model shows integrating a state-of-the-art school within future TOD development plans such as at Diridon.

SAN JOSE—Transit-oriented development continues to be a hot topic with the Google and Diridon Station projects among the most recognizable. Architectural firm LPA Inc. has created a TOD model that includes a state-of-the-art school, one component missing from the equation, it says in this exclusive.

LPA's design challenges the model of a traditional school, where students stay on campus all day. Curriculums can leverage transit access to move learning off site, engaging and developing students in different ways. Instead of traditional classrooms, there are more community-based spaces, labs and interdisciplinary environments. Students would be able to walk off trains and directly into the secure school environment while parents can work in the same areas as their children's schools.

“Schools located in transit-oriented developments have the potential to provide solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing schools and employers today in highly urbanized areas,” Helen Pierce, associate and design director of LPA, tells GlobeSt.com. “Beyond that, they would provide options not typically afforded schools, with increased ease of access out to the assets of the wider region for community-based learning. The density, the energy and the transient nature of TODs also provide a unique opportunity to create a rich dialogue between schools and all of the resources that mixed-use developments bring.”