Early Childhood Learning Center

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Leading a team of design and engineering professionals, we worked closely with the School District to create a unique facility for early childhood learning. As a part of the School District’s philosophy to stay abreast of current educational trends, we focused on designing a building that incorporated sustainable design and a sense of community in a fun and secure environment.

After reviewing several different sites and listening to the community’s and educators’ goals, it was recommended that the facility be located at the heart of downtown. The location with the greatest potential for serving children was the abandoned bakery — an early 1900’s masonry building with bowstring trusses and large expanses of uninterrupted space. We saw the “diamond in the rough”, and worked with the District to save and adapt the building into its new use. At the start of construction, the contractors repeatedly questioned the logic behind keeping “this old, run-down building”, however, as the design began to take shape, an attitude of pride and accomplishment developed by saving and recreating a fantastic facility.

The design creates a community for the children by turning the corridors into streets complete with “street lighting” and houses. Office spaces become “homes” in the corridor, fitted out with divided windows, unique paint colors and “roofs”. These vignettes, along with a bay window at the library entry, establish a sense of neighborhood and place in the facility, providing visual landmarks and a feeling of warmth and security.

The need for a playful, yet secure, atmosphere was one of the District’s main goals. Through the introduction of brightly colored paints, the streetscape concept, and fun building shapes, children experience a playful sense of community while learning. The plan carefully includes secure entrances with the ability to lockdown the doors and view visitors from the administrative areas. While being secure, the entries are made to feel welcoming with windows, generous space and plenty of natural light.

Educator Narrative

The dream of a facility designed to meet the needs of pre-kindergarten children and their families became a reality through collaborative planning. We started with an open forum where every employee connected to the project was invited to brainstorm ideas, give input, and “dream a little”. From the start, planning was based on closely held philosophical beliefs about the mission of our programs and best practice in Early Childhood, coupled with realistic planning for staff members and programs already in place. Guiding principles included things such as: family involvement is important to children’s learning, children learn best in an active, hands-on manner, and the learning environment should validate and support the culture of the home environment.

Starting with a building that had been a former bakery was initially a good news/bad news proposition. The bad news was that the footprint of the building was set, the site was very landlocked, and the location was unattractive as a site for young children. The good news was that the site was close to many families that we serve, and that we had to “think out of the box” to figure out how to retrofit an old building and make it an attractive “home” for over 400 children during the day. Fortunately, our architect was able to see past the crumbling brickwork to help us envision a structure that would be child-centered and family friendly, while at the same time representing “urban renewal at its best”. Some of this renewal included transforming the loading dock area into a multipurpose room and converting an exterior concrete slab into an outdoor covered play area and garden.

From the beginning, we wanted spaces specifically for what we do, that would be nontraditional, inviting, and kid-friendly. Some examples of this include a Family Center located in the heart of the building. This room will house our parent coordinator and assistant, and it will also house a part-time family literacy coordinator and a secretary. It will be a welcoming area for parents, and will serve as a place for parent workshops, a place to check out books and learning games, and a place for families to gather for social events. We also needed spaces for therapists to work near classrooms. The architect was able to accomplish this by creating small therapy “houses” in the corridors. This, along with an open ceiling, created a streetscape effect that is colorful, inviting, and very functional. In addition, rooms that staff and children will call home are large enough to accommodate active learning, as well as quiet spaces, and each classroom includes large windows that bring in natural light and allow children to look outside. As the building nears completion, the excitement grows. As one teacher stated, “This building is BEAUTIFUL. It has fulfilled my every expectation.” So often, space provided by schools for pre-kindergarten programs is makeshift and inadequate. We feel fortunate indeed that everyone connected to the program will have a place like this to call our daytime “home”.