Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty is known for its goth­ic-revival archi­tec­ture and tra­di­tion­al cam­pus plan. A series of remote facil­i­ties to the North mark an expan­sion of the University’s foot­print into the urban fab­ric of St. Louis. The Fam­i­ly Learn­ing Cen­ter pro­vid­ed a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to embrace con­tem­po­rary and play­ful architecture. 

Dark mason­ry pro­vides the back­drop to col­or­ful glass tow­ers that spark intrigue and let vis­i­tors know that not all Uni­ver­si­ty build­ings have to be serious. 

The court­yard lay­out cre­ates bright and airy spaces with abun­dant day­light and con­nec­tions the out­doors. Exte­ri­or play yards for old­er chil­dren encir­cle part of the build­ing while a more inti­mate infant/​toddler play yard sits at the center. 

Achiev­ing LEED Gold Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, the build­ing takes sus­tain­abil­i­ty to heart with a 30% reduc­tion in ener­gy costs over a com­pa­ra­ble struc­ture. Site design also plays a role with native/​adapt­ed plant­i­ng, no irri­ga­tion, micro-deten­tion basins, bio-swales, and per­me­able paving that assist the site in con­trol­ling flood events unique to the St.Louis region. 

Client: Wash­ing­ton Uni­ver­si­ty – St. Louis, man­aged by Bright Hori­zons
Pro­gram: Ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion cen­ter
Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion: LEED Gold
Size: 20,100 sqft
Cost: $4,552,681

Select­ed Awards/​Honors:
Bronze Medal, Brick Indus­try Asso­ci­a­tion. 2013.

Project Fea­tures:
​“Kinder­garten Archi­tec­ture II”, Pub­lished by Dalian Uni­ver­si­ty of Tech­nol­o­gy Press and Hi-design Inter­na­tion­al Pub­lish­ing Com­pa­ny. 2013.

Col­lab­o­ra­tive Part­ners:
Hei­de­man Asso­ciates (Civ­il Engi­neer)
KAI (Mechan­i­cal, Elec­tri­cal, Plumb­ing and Fire Pro­tec­tion Engi­neer)
KPFF (Struc­tur­al Engi­neer)
Oslund & Asso­ciates (Land­scape Archi­tect)
Unit­ed Con­struc­tion Ent. Co. (Gen­er­al Contractor)

Pho­tog­ra­phy Cred­it: © Kate Joyce Studios