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

  • Big Horn Academy

    Big Horn Academy

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Big Horn Academy has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • KWK Architects Announces Full Transition to Lawrence Group Branding

    KWK Architects recently announced that it will complete its transition to the Lawrence Group brand effective July 1, according to a news release. The merger marks the end of a three-year strategic integration process that began in March 2023 to unite the firms.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.