Early Childhood Center at Maddox | Englewood Schools
The project was built while the site was occupied. It was first occupied by the existing ECE program, then by displaced Bishop Elementary students while their site was being replaced. The project had 4 separate ECE playgrounds, one for each wing of the school. Each of the playgrounds accessed the school’s interior with large garage doors and overhang, which made the transition between indoor and outdoor play seamless. Separate doors to each of the classroom wings were also present. Large overhangs had rain chains for students to experience rainfall from the overhang running along the chain. All playgrounds had their own raised stage for imagination play. Two of the playgrounds were more traditional, with both typical play equipment over poured-in-place surfacing in addition to a synthetic turf hillside slide, trike track, and musical instruments. The second set of playgrounds provided a more nature-inspired experience with raised gardens, sand area, tables, tactile walks with stumps, stones, and textural path materials. The play equipment was nature-themed, with bears, logs, canoes, and boulders for the children to play on.
All of the playgrounds had multiple painted or stained and sandblasted games. The school’s front entry had a line of trees and seat boulders to enhance the entry experience. Boulders were stained and sandblasted, and a line of sandblasted and stained images from nature ran along the pathway to the entry, making the experience more fun and playful for the young students.
The area where the original school was located became a large area of sod and mature existing trees for both school and the neighborhood. A new playground was added at the southeast corner of the site to be used as a community amenity.
