Bryker Woods Elementary

Individual Project | Fall 2019 | Design V

Project Recognitions:
ASID TX Student Symposium: 1st Objects
Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship, Finalist
UTSOA Design Excellence Award

As the world is rapidly changing, it becomes more apparent in-person classroom models have remained virtually the same. Using one wing of Bryker Woods Elementary School, this project was to consider the principals of Fredric Froebel and other hands-on learning pedagogies to create a space for 5-year-olds that break the current conventions of the standard in-person kindergarten classroom.

This project intends to re-imagine early childhood learning with a focus on hands-on and self-directed learning styles. Using a “multi-scale” approach, development began with considering the spatial, ergonomic, and learning needs of a kindergartner through furniture and furniture clustering. These principals and forms are then “scaled up” to the development of the rooms, adjacencies, and building intervention. As a result, two distinct spaces are defined: one vibrant and programmed learning space and one un-programmed and flexible learning space showing natural material finishes. Through these strategies, the project aims to give a dynamic space of flexibility and exploration that only hopes to keep up with the child’s growing imagination.