Photography by Alise O’Brien; courtesy of Bond Architects
10890 Ladue
314-993-5724
Starting on the long road to higher education can be a terrifying prospect for a toddler—but not at the Ladue Early Childhood Center. The facility holds 26 classrooms, physical- and speech-therapy suites, and work space for Parents as Teachers. Designed by Bond Architects, the $11.5 million, 50,000-square-foot project was completed in August 2011 and has already racked up design awards. “A two-story building for little teeny kids is not common, because there are stairs—they could fall down them,” says Susan Pruchnicki, a principal at Bond Architects. So to accommodate the wee ones, the staircases have smaller steps, lower handrails, and sides painted in different colors to indicate which is for going up or down.
The center emphasizes learning through exploration. “It’s a lot of hands-on: role-playing, playing with blocks, climbing…” Pruchnicki says. “They are given the chance to explore the world physically, visually, and mentally.” In the Big Room (pictured), students can don firefighter gear, sit in a mini truck, and play fire department. There’s also a kitchen, a dress-up area, a fun-house mirror, a treehouse with faux birds, a water table, and a giant tube to climb through beneath the slide. “Children at this age love to be at different elevations,” Pruchnicki says. So what do the tykes think of the new digs? Grant, 4, says, “It’s really cool and I like playing in there with my friends.”
