Page 39 - School Planning & Management, April 2017

kinds of experiments that teach children about their environment. Surface runoff and overflow from the cisterns are chan- neled into the arroyo, which naturally replenishes the water table. Any excess is diverted into a 20,000-gallon infiltration tank, which prevents it from entering the storm-water system. The plant selection, strategically limiting areas of turf, and the use of water-efficient drip irrigation, result in a greater than 50 percent water savings for the landscape. Through obser- vation and play, the children learn about the preciousness of water in California’s arid climate.
The meandering arroyo divides the center into three distinct areas, each with
classrooms and an outdoor play area spe- cifically designed for children of a discrete age. Infant rooms are located in the quiet southern end of the site, far from the tennis courts and buffered from parking lots by administrative and service wings. Tod- dlers congregate in the center of campus between the youngest and oldest kids. Pre-schoolers occupy the highest point at the northern end of campus.
The role of the playground in most childcare centers is that of an outdoor classroom. It is a critically important aspect of the curriculum. In Southern California, the climate allows for year-round use of this space. Caltech pushed us to think deeply about the educational opportunities inher-
ent in the landscape of the 19,700 square feet of play yards. Integrating the aspects of the macro ecology into this space sets the stage for children to find more variety than they would in a typical yard. Native and climate- appropriate trees and plants throughout
are hardy enough to handle the rigors of a rough-and-tumble playground, but diverse enough to provide a range of textures, shapes and colors in all seasons.
From the colorful furniture to the whim- sical animal graphics to the low toilets in the bathrooms, everything about the facilities and landscape is appropriately scaled for the children. Dutch doors open at the top and the bottom. Benches in hallways are two heights to accommodate both children and adults. Windows set at a knee-high eye level allow children to look in, out and dis- cover. Different animal graphics and color schemes provide distinct identities for each classroom, giving pre-readers an appropri- ate wayfinding system.
The Children’s Center at Caltech draws upon and extends both the natural and constructed conditions of the surrounding area, providing a learning environment that expresses the function of the design. In this fashion, the site itself takes on the role of classroom,laboratoryandteachingtool. SPM
>> Jennifer Schab, AIA, LEED-AP, is a principal at Los Angeles-based Rios Clementi Hale Studios, a multi-discipline design firm. www.rchstudios.com.
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