There is a great shortage of early learning space in downtown Manhattan. This project is a 10,500 square foot kindergarten facility located within the eight story South wing of the 200 Chambers Street building. The facility has seven kindergarten classrooms on the 3rd and 4th floors and an entrance lobby on the ground floor to Warren Street.

The lobby design uses primary colors of ceramic tile in abstract modernist patterns on a white background on the walls and at the front desk. The floor is of terrazzo tile with sprinkles of primary color on a white background. Overall, the effect is to counteract the limited space and open it up with color, lightness and concealed ceiling cove lighting.

Classrooms feature large window openings overlooking lower Manhattan with continuous lower level bands of bookcases and air conditioning cabinets at the perimeter walls. The high ceilings are emphasized with acoustic treatments that conceal mechanical systems and pipes and provide for direct/indirect pendant light fixtures.

The biggest architectural challenge was to create a unified sense of a new kindergarten on three disparate floors of the 200 Chambers Street building. This was accomplished through establishing a strong visual identity in the lobby, and continuing the motif of lightness and openness through the classroom floors to provide unity and a strong sense of on-going creativity.