LEARNING BY DESIGN magazine - New Early Learning Center

Strategies like geothermal heating and building envelope design provide calculated energy cost savings of 47% compared to a baseline building
Children at this innovative 40,000 square foot Early Learning Center are encouraged to move through varied types of learning settings.
The building orientation and details such as window placement and materials selected set the tone for the learning experience.
The building was oriented to maximize daylighting. Children can see the sustainable strategies in features like native landscaping and rain chains.
Care was taken to create a human-scale, friendly building. Natural, tactile finishes and details like curiosity-provoking clerestories and playful, child-height windows welcome early learners.
Informed by neuroscience research on how children experience and are affected by their environment, the design throughout features natural elements like the exposed wood structure.
The entry sequence which begins on a wooded path with a real tree, supports emotional safety and sets the tone for the learning experience.
The “Imagination Station” is a library-type space. The blue alcove contains a stage platform to facilitate active learning.
The “Imagination Station” provokes inquiry & exploration. Children experience active learning through the puppet theater house at one end of the room.
Friendly, joyful colors and child-sized counters and sinks help children learn positive attitudes towards food and nutrition in the “Make It Market”
Young children are exposed to STEM concepts in the “Tinker Lab.” In this large, flexible space kids explore problems and work to solve them.
The “Fitness Factory” supports both structured & unstructured physical activity. Further supporting wellness, biophilic design is woven throughout.
Supportive of Social and Emotional Development, elements of nature have been introduced into the building as much as possible.
Throughout the interior, curvilinear pathways mimic the movement of a river and nature-inspired screening offers privacy in corridor breakout spaces.
The classroom designs specifically support different aspects of the holistic development of children. They learn skills by encountering varied experiences.
DLA Architects, Ltd./Alexander Romanovsky
DLA Architects, Ltd./Alexander Romanovsky
DLA Architects, Ltd./Alexander Romanovsky

PROJECT NARRARTIVE

The New Early Learning Center is child-centered and nature-inspired. The research-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum dictated the experiences the children would encounter within.
The four Learning Hubs are key to this experience-based program. Each environment is tailored to the learning activities it will host.
• Not a traditional library, the "Imagination Station" provokes inquiry and exploration. A puppet theater and a stage help facilitate active learning.
• The “Tinker Lab” exposes young children to STEM concepts, providing the environment for them to make sense of problems and work to solve them.
• Health and wellness are the focus of the other hubs. Children learn positive attitudes towards food in the nutrition focused "Make It Market." The "Fitness Factory" supports both structured and unstructured physical activity for large motor development.
Biophilic design is woven throughout the building creating a sense of emotional safety, further supporting wellness. Setting the tone for the experience, entry begins on a wooded path with a real tree and the corridor mimics walking through the woods alongside a river flowing past each hub.
With a focus on play-based learning, the overall building design supports different aspects of holistic child development by enticing children to move through varied learning settings.

New Early Learning Center

Description

Owner
East Maine School District 63
Des Plaines, IL

Architecture Firm
DLA Architects
Itasca,Illinois
dla-ltd.com

Photography By:
DLA Architects, Ltd./Alexander Romanovsky

New Early Learning Center

Category

Description