This new, sculptural kindergarten project provides two new classrooms, support spaces, and outdoor learning areas at an existing hillside public school. The design springs from the idea that “wonder” can be expressed in architecture that is simple, sculptural, light-filled, colorful, and full of unexpected moments and spaces of discovery.
The building’s form presents an appropriately modest face to the residential neighborhood. Colorful louvers ring the exterior façade, and the mass of the building gives way to playful swoops facing the campus interior that evoke movement and energy. The large sweeping roof overhang provides shade from the sun and shelter from rain, and creates an informal gathering area or “porch” that bolsters the feeling of community and vitality within the campus.
Sustainability is vital to this Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Verified project, which provides opportunities for children to learn about the natural environment and engage with energy-conscious building design. Classrooms feature ample natural light and curated views to the campus, surrounding neighborhood, and wooded hillsides. Partial open-ceiling areas of the classrooms reveal the inner workings of pipes, ducts, and structural beams to curious students. Large skylights and solar tubes punctuate the spaces and bring natural top-light into the rooms, reducing energy use while promoting student wellbeing. Custom playful storage cubbies, special “reading circle” nooks, and seating areas underneath the roof edge provide small-scale spaces to be enjoyed by young learners. Colored polycarbonate fins above a large roof opening bring the building to life with transitory rainbows of colored sunlight, evoking wonder and imagination.
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