In the past while I have noted some great articles and posts related to child care design. Good child care design is very important when it comes to the development of high quality early learning and care programs. This post shares some articles that offer some interesting approaches to child care design.
New child care design — with rooftop play area in Vancouver
From: Daycare and preschool planned atop Gastown parkade
“Acton Ostry Architects has designed two buildings to go atop the Gastown parkade located at 150 Water Street, and 151 West Cordova Street. The parkade is divided by Trounce Alley.
The spaces will contain 37 full day child care spaces, comprised of 12 spaces for children ages 0 to 3 (toddler) and 25 spaces for children ages 3 to 5 (pre-schooler).
Both of the buildings will have outdoor play areas with acoustic glass screens on the edge of the parkade wall. A pedestrian walkway bridge is proposed to connect the two childcare facilities as the parkade is separated down the middle by Trounce Alley.”
Link to post: Daycare and preschool planned atop Gastown parkade
Child care design at Simon Fraser University
From: UniverCity Childcare Centre
“The childcare is a laboratory for self-directed learning within a space flexible enough to respond to the changing nature of education. The Reggio Emilia pedagogy emphasizes three teachers: the educator, the environment, and the children’s broader community. The environment is designed for the experience and scale of the child, and encourages interaction with their environment. Controls and infrastructure for on-site building systems are revealed to encourage questions about operation.
Beyond meeting the ambitious goals of the Living Building Challenge and incorporating elements in harmony with the Reggio Emilia methodology, the Childcare cost 18 percent less to build than conventional childcare centres being built elsewhere in the region.”
Link to post: UniverCity Childcare Centre
Working on a child care project?
We offer support, consulting and advisory options related to child care design, development and operations. You can learn more here.
Online child care design, planning and construction workshop
We also offer a professional development workshop that is focused on the design, planning and construction of high quality child care facilities.
Thank you for discussing how the Reggio Emilia method assigns the environment the role of the third teacher, with the educator and the community as the other two. This is just what Mom has in mind when she plans on leaving the twins in a reputable child care facility–to have them learn from their surroundings with other children. This way kids learn naturally at their own pace within the safe space of the classroom. This is marvelous!