Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

New School Connecting Preschoolers with Nature

  • 02/20/18

Newport Beach, Calif. – Construction started Feb. 15 on a new nature-based preschool facility for the Environmental Nature Center (ENC), designed to create a hands-on, outdoor learning environment and demonstrate sustainable values for preschool students. Designed by Irvine, Calif.-based LPA, the 8,000-square-foot, three-classroom preschool is an extension of the ENC’s mission to promote nature-centered education. Nature-based preschools, which are growing in popularity around the country, have been shown to support early brain development, healthy living and social skills in early childhood.

ENC Preschool

LPA’s design creates spaces designed to foster a connection to the outdoors, where students will spend most of their time. Outdoor spaces will serve as teaching centers, from a stone abacus to a landscape of drought-tolerant plants, which will provide a living lesson in sustainability. Boulders, logs and tree stumps will be used for seating. An organic garden will provide teaching opportunities and food sup-plies for students. “The preschool is designed to be a living laboratory and educational tool for conservation,” says LPA Principal Rick D’Amato.

About LPA
A pioneer in sustainable design, LPA provides services in architecture, engineering, interior design, land-scape architecture and planning. With nearly 400 employees across offices in California and Texas, LPA delivers integrated design solutions for K-12 and higher education facilities, civic, recreational, corporate, and healthcare developments to enhance the human experience. As one of the country’s only design firms with a dedicated research team, PLPA draws on rigorous data and analysis to create environments that improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.lpainc.com.

Featured

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.