The Kipling School is a private educational facility located in the up-and-coming Washington Street area of Houston. The two-phase, master-planned campus is comprised of two buildings providing daycare and schooling for approximately 300 children, filling a void needed for this type of facility for the growing population of young professional families in the area. The North Building is a 12,700 SF daycare building for ages six months to five years and the South Building provides 16,500 SF of classrooms for children aged K-5th grade.
The design of the campus complements the emerging energy and activity of its urban location. Over 35% of the exterior walls are comprised of windows, providing abundant natural light into the classrooms. Exterior shades at west-oriented classrooms provide shade from the high-angled summer sun while still allowing the low-angled winter sunlight to enter the rooms. Building program overhangs the driveway and exterior play areas to maximize the small site’s functional use as well as satisfying state guidelines which require a specific amount of square feet to be devoted to outside activity area. All of the mechanical units were located on the roof, augmenting this site strategy.