The Early Learning Center uses architecture to support the concurrent delivery of both care and education, providing disadvantaged children with a safe environment to gain confidence by engaging in physical, social, and emotional interactions with their world in age appropriate spaces and playgrounds.
In plan, classrooms gather into four groups forming the arms of a pin-wheel parti, with views to nature terminating each corridor or arm. Essential support spaces are located at the pinwheel center, equi-distant from the four arms; designers “expanded and retracted” the pinwheel to achieve the most effective layout. Clerestories bring natural light deep into the building, enhancing the connection to nature through changing light conditions.
Vertically, the form breaks into two distinct elements; the upper acts as strong sheltering canopy; the lower is perforated by glazing connecting the interior to the exterior. A two-foot grid organizes elevation alignments. A secondary organizing concept governs the placement of glazing and spandrel panels, inspired by the natural patterning of tree trunks in a forest. Flush metal panels with stepped profiles are gathered where trees are in close proximity to the building, placed to enhance the dappled light of each mature tree’s shadow as it moves across the building.