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City Kids

Education Center

Brooklyn, United States

ity Kids is a new childhood education centre located in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Six preschool classrooms open
Conto a central double-height courtyard gathering space, lit by
a large storefront window. The courtyard features a thickened wall
that incorporates the reception desk and storage cubby-holes and
provides a central gathering space for the classrooms. Windows of
varying shapes and sizes in the interior façade allow borrowed light
to enter the surrounding spaces on both levels, and provide visual
access for children and teachers. The classrooms are interconnected
through double doors and shared spaces such as bathrooms and play
sinks, with half-height walls that allow for visual privacy for the kids,
and monitoring capability for the teachers.

The after-school programme for elementary school students is
accessed up the stairs at the reception area. Apertures bring light and
views to the courtyard and the street. Lockers wrap the courtyard
volume, in the form of a city skyline. Specialized classrooms for
cooking, theatre, STEM, and movement are accessed off of the upper
hallway. A lounge with bench seating provides a place for informal
gathering. Light fixtures of different types and sizes are suspended
to provide an animated ceiling plane. Plank flooring is also used to
wrap the entries to the classrooms and windows. Acoustical felt
panels, cut into graphic shapes, provide visual interest. The pandemic
prompted some ventilation improvements in the form of electronic
and ultraviolet light HVAC filters, touchless security and check-in
points, as well as the addition of operable windows to bring light and
air to all classrooms. dw

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