blog article

Intro

What’s Your “Why”?

As architects, the best way we can help improve children’s lives by improving their surroundings is to help the people who take care of them. Outside of being with their parents in their own home, children spend the most time in childcare and at school. It only stands to reason that Childcare and School Directors have the biggest impact on what a child’s environment will be like outside of their homes.  Schools can take the same precautions outlined for the home environment and apply them to the education environment.

The decisions you make will affect the children in your care, your staff and yourself every single day. As early as picking the location for your school and extending all the way to the completion of construction, you’re deciding everyone’s comfort level. The cumulation of all of your choices will make the difference between a pleasant environment and a stressful one.

To begin with, the property location you select will decide how difficult it is to drive in and out of the school during peak traffic commute times. The size and layout of the lot will determine how far a parent and child have to walk from their cars to get into the school on a rainy day. The design of the lot will also determine what the children’s playground will look like and whether it will be shaded enough on a hot sunny day.

The size of the building will determine how big the classrooms are going to be which will affect how noisy and cluttered the room is. The exterior design of the building will determine whether your business fits in with the community surroundings and offers a sense of pride which results in whether or not your teachers and parents are proud to have selected your school for where they work or send their children.

You even decide how you will protect yourself, your teachers and children from unwanted visitors, bad weather, and emergencies. The level of responsibility is enormous.

So many decisions go into the design of a childcare and school building, and usually, the decision-makers have never had to make these choices before. If this is the case with you, make sure to select someone who has dedicated many years to helping school owners make smart choices. Experienced education Architects will understand all of the repercussions of your choices and will help you weigh the pros and cons of each choice along the way.

This is exactly what we do with our clients. We make sure to ask the right questions at the right time and give school owners the pros and cons of each choice. Our many years of experience working within the childcare and private education communities have given us a shared knowledge of many experts and owners in your industry. We know the best practices and recommendations, and we can help you decide what is most important to you so that you can make the right choices for your school.

Want to buy that property on the corner lot near your neighborhood?

We can create a schematic design of what size building, parking lot and playground will fit on the lot before you purchase it. Giving you the reassurance that the property will or will not meet your business goals before you make a large investment.

Want to have a larger building but can’t afford it right away?

We can design a building that is arranged to have an addition added on at a later date. We’ll also make sure that you will have room for the extra parking and playground required when you build that addition.

Want to build a 2-story to maximize the use of your property?

We understand what age groups are allowed to be on a second floor and we understand the space needed to accommodate stairs and elevators. We can also make suggestions on how to keep a visual eye on the second floor.

If you’ve ever watched a TED talk, you know they can be very insightful observations about the world around us. In Simon Sinek’s talk, he explains what “the why” is, and it’s significance within every organization.

Our Why is to improve children’s lives by improving their surroundings.
What’s Your’s?

If you need inspiration on determining your Why, watch the TED talk now. It will be well worth 20 minutes of your time. It helped us find our Why, and we think it can help you too.