anchor

Lincoln School Early Childhood Annex

The program for the Lincoln School Early Childhood Construction and Renovation, completed in 2006, included several major projects as part of the District's comprehensive commitment to provide Early Childhood (full day kindergarten and half-day Pre-kindergarten) "in-house" to assure compliance with educational standards.

The Lincoln School Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Center is a district-wide
Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Program, including 22 classrooms, two Small Group Instruction areas, kitchen, Cafeteria / Gym / Auditorium (multi-use room-Cafetorium), computer lab, offices, and related support facilities. All spaces are organized around a large two floor open hall, made up of three small atriums with skylights which provides informal gathering areas for staff and students, and brings natural light to the core of the building. This two-story, 80,000 square foot addition adjoins to the existing Lincoln Elementary School built in 1929; to now occupy the entire block. A community entry to the multi-use room, kitchen and computer labs, and a new accessible elevator and service core were created as the link between the two buildings. Improvements to the existing 60,000 square foot school, including door replacements, circulation improvements, as well as provision of on grade parking serving both facilities were part of the project. Completed in 2006, the school was one of the largest urban early childhood centers in New Jersey dedicated exclusively to pre-k and kindergarten students. Educational and site planning, design and construction documents were provided for swing space-temporary classrooms units on remote site in North Hudson Park. Sixteen classroom units as well as an administration and nurses unit housed students while the permanent facility went under construction.

Awards:

CEFPI 2006 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture Award - Project of Distinction

Status: Built
Location: North Bergen, NJ, US

22 classrooms are organized around a central, dynamic, two-story sky-lit Atrium, a gathering space for informal play, instruction, and any various events. Colorful Teachers’ Rooms, SGI Rooms, and Classrooms face the Atrium for day-time lighting, security and communication. Paired classrooms, configured to maximize natural light, share a common ‘break-out’ space where individual or small group activities may take place. Small Group Rooms have large geometric windows on a curved wall facing the Atrium, on two-story wall plane with a sculptural curved communicating stairway. Floor patterns derived from Froebel Blocks animate the Atrium with simple, bright, engaging shapes; encouraging the facility to become much more a community and a space where the students want to be.

The Cafeteria, Gym, and Auditorium were combined to create a bright Multi-use room - Cafetorium. Color identifies building systems, hydraulic elevator enclosure, building structure and structural details in public spaces to inform and piqué curiosity. Located on the down slope of the site, in the central connecting wing between the original Elementary school from 1929 and the new Early Childhood Annex, the Cafetorium serves both schools easily with multiple entrances, and is built one floor above street level situating itself above the new parking facility for faculty and staff.