On a cool, clear morning last month in Andrews County, a group of caregivers, educators and community members gathered to rethink how children experience the outdoors. Guiding the conversation was Saad Andalib, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at Texas Tech, who had come not with a finished plan, but with questions, maps and an invitation to imagine.
‘It’s incredibly valuable to understand how rural communities across Texas think about designed spaces, especially spaces that support future generations. This is the beginning of a fascinating journey.'
The occasion was a hands-on design workshop at Andrews Head Start, where participants collaborated to transform the center’s outdoor space into what designers call an Outdoor Learning Environment; a landscape intended to spark curiosity, encourage movement and support early learning through direct contact with nature.
The workshop is part of a broader outreach effort supported by a King Foundation Community Grant, an initiative focused on rural childcare centers across West Texas. Titled Outdoor Learning Environment Community Outreach for Rural Childcare Centers in West Texas, the project spans Andrews, Stanton, Crane and Midland counties and has the potential to reach more than 800 children from infancy through pre-kindergarten. Andalib serves as the project’s principal investigator.
“For an early-career researcher, it’s incredibly valuable to understand how rural communities across Texas think about designed spaces, especially spaces that support future generations,” Andalib said. “This is the beginning of a fascinating journey.”
The focus on rural communities is intentional. While children in these areas may spend time outdoors on ranches or farms, research suggests that such environments do not always offer the restorative cognitive benefits associated with unstructured, nature-based play. Purposefully designed outdoor learning spaces, researchers argue, can bridge that gap.
The design process itself is collaborative and deliberately paced. It begins with an online session to introduce participants to the goals and mechanics of participatory design, followed by an in-person site visit. During that visit, faculty from Texas Tech’s Department of Landscape Architecture lead panel discussions, walk the grounds and solicit ideas about what the space could become.
From there, designers and participants work side by side, using scaled cutouts, printed maps and model materials to shape a shared vision. The results are then refined on campus into an illustrative master plan. Each participating childcare center receives the plan along with seed funding, intended to help leverage additional community partnerships and financial support. Andalib noted the research team’s next design project moves this week to the Twin Sisters childcare center in Midland, some 120 miles south of Lubbock.
For Andalib, the Andrews workshop reflects a larger professional mission. An internationally recognized expert in advanced landscape architecture design technologies, his research explores how extended reality tools, including augmented and virtual reality, can improve both design education and real-world outcomes. His work integrates game engines, 3D scanning and immersive digital environments to create interactive learning experiences.
That philosophy also shapes his teaching at Texas Tech, where he offers undergraduate and graduate courses in 3D modeling, visualization, participatory design and landscape construction. Students learn industry-standard software such as Rhino 3D, SketchUp, Twinmotion and Lumion, while also experimenting with extended reality platforms like Meta Quest.
CONTACT: Leehu Loon, Professor and Chair, Department of Landscape Architecture, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-5215 or Leehu.Loon@ttu.edu
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