Muckleshoot Childcare Development Facility

The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe’s Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) program operated without a building for many years. The success of the program and growing population of the tribe identified a need for a new facility. Our team worked in close collaboration with the tribe to develop a new early learning building type that met their unique needs to provide a culturally relevant early learning center. The new building includes classroom spaces, indoor play, flexible conference, and meeting spaces as well as a warming kitchen, custom playground spaces with covered and open spaces. The classrooms each open inside to a shared play area or directly outside to their own individual play areas, connecting to a larger playground. Each classroom was planned with flexibility in mind to allow teachers and students to flow inside or outside, depending on weather or curriculum.

Sustainability and environmental stewardship were important factors in the design which manifest in several design strategies. Large glazing areas and easy access outside in core learning spaces provide ample natural light, views of the outside and direct access to play areas. Building orientation, massing and thoughtful overhangs provide opportunities for migration during hot, cold, rainy, or sunny days, natural ventilation to create a seamless indoor-outdoor connection.