Steve's PORTFOLIO
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources
Child Development Center
Quantico Marine Corp. Base
Samaha
Military Projects
Child Development Center for the MCB Quantico Military community, will provide instructional services for children between the ages of six weeks through six years. This new facility will accommodate 290 children within the age group classification of infant, pre-toddler, toddler, and preschool, including 40 caregivers, 10 administrators, and 3 support staff. Our collective design objective is to create a CDC that fits within the residential character of the site, reflects the MCB Quantico Georgian style of architecture, provides easy accessibility to patron and children, and projects a child friendly interactive environment, there home away from home.
Site Planning
The design included in the RFP was laid out to maximize a very tight site. The entry to the Child Development Center faced Purvis road with parking and fire truck circulation between the building and the road. Access to the CDC parking was through three drive lanes that climbed up the steep bank. The drives line up with existing curb cuts across the street. In order to keep the slope of the drives to 7% the entire site elevation was lowered by a meter. By lowering the site, the retaining wall grew by a meter.
Due to ATFP stand-off requirements form Purvis Road the CDC and outdoor activity spaces were pressed back against the 5 meter high retaining wall. This created a very un-pleasing space for the children.
Fire truck and service vehicle access to the site was also an issue. The location of the retaining wall created very limited turning radii for the fire trucks and delivery trucks. Trucks would also need to climb steep slopes to get to the drives. Access for emergency vehicles to the rear of the building was impossible.
The design team discovered that if the building was bent 30 degrees, it could slide on the site toward the new Purvis Road extension. This innovation moved the building away from the narrow part of the site reducing the amount of retaining wall needed.