Education
How Student Feedback Confirmed a School Building Design
If you want to know if a building’s design meets all the important criteria, ask the experts. In the case of a pre-kindergarten building, the experts are the children who play and learn in the space. So, that’s who we consulted on a school building project in southern Connecticut. Greenwich Academy is an…
Read MoreDouble Duty: How We Blended Education and Accommodations
One of the great thrills in architecture is when we’re able to create a design that leverages one structure for multiple purposes. We had that opportunity when we were asked to create a unique building for a local independent school. Greenwich Academy is a college preparatory day school for girls. The campus sits on nearly…
Read MoreHow to Design a Natural Playscape
As children, the first lessons we learn are about the natural world around us. And those lessons are important, because they become the framework for much of the learning that follows. That’s one of the reasons nature themes are so prevalent in childcare and early education settings. This includes outdoor play areas, where it seems…
Read MoreHelping Young Minds Bloom with an Educational Greenhouse and Gardens
Slate School is an independent elementary school in North Haven, CT. Its 25-acre parcel is a beautiful plot of land, with both open meadow lands and forest. When school leaders approached us to design the school building, they expressed their vision of capitalizing on this incredible setting and having nature play a central role in…
Read MoreSustainable design for a new elementary school
One of our current projects, which we couldn’t be more excited about, is designing a nature-based independent school, called Slate School, on former farmlands in North Haven, Connecticut. The school’s educational philosophy is centered around discovery, curiosity, and nature. We’re no strangers to design for early childhood education with nature as a core principle, with…
Read MoreDesigning a nature-based school
Recently, we have been asking ourselves how to design to support the educational philosophy of curiosity and nature-based learning for a new independent elementary school called Slate School. When designing for a school, in particular, it’s essential to strongly adhere to its core principles in order to create the best environment for learning. To this end,…
Read MoreCase Study: Early Childhood Conversion
OVERVIEW Located in an existing building attached to a Lutheran Church, this early childhood head start facility will serve the community for the growing need of childcare for infants through preschool age children. Within the program there are 4 classrooms, a staff room, a new shared kitchenette, an open central activity area and a new playground. CLASSROOM…
Read MoreChecklist for Early Childhood Conversion Projects
Converting any existing building to a different use can be challenging, but especially so for an early childcare program. There are many physical building features, as well as operational aspects to consider. You will have to account for all the applicable Building Codes as well as the Statutes and Regulations from the State Office of…
Read MoreSite Analysis and Feasibility Case Study – Early Childhood Center
GOALS OF THE STUDY Our client group envisioned an early childhood education center in a new building to fulfill the community’s need for quality care for children. Their current program, located in the basement of the New Haven Quaker Meeting building, was filled to capacity. The goal of the feasibility study was to study the…
Read MoreThe World of GIFs in Design
Just as GIFs have taken over social media, we have begun using GIFs in our architectural design presentations. GIFs – Graphic Interchange Format files – are actuallly a file type, but they are more commonly known for the fact that they can support animations at low resolutions. In the design world, we use them to…
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