Children's Ark - Brief Article

Architectural Review, The, March, 2001 by Catherine Slessor

Modest in scale, yet providing an important civic resource, this children's centre responds to a challenging brief with invention and sensitivity.

The building responds to its difficult brief with great sensitivity, creating a sheltered and informal environment for the children, while dealing efficiently with various administrative and legal processes involved in such cases. It consists of an interview and observation room (separated by one-way glass disguised with a colourful mural), a meeting and education room, an office workspace and storage. These spaces are housed in a pair of dumpy, single-storey barn-like structures, linked by a covered walkway that forms a sitting-out space. The arcade-like walkway is enclosed by a tall roof canopy made of corrugated metal and polycarbonate sheeting, its height giving the low-rise composition some kind of focus, as well as defining an axial route. The arcade leads through to a playground, also designed by the students. Angular poles resemble trees and there are cylinders, a tyre swing, and large sandbox, picturesquely arrayed like a series of exhibits in a sculpture garden.

This small children's centre is typical of the Rural Studio's approach to the problems of addressing challenging social programmes with minimal resources. Designed and built by a quartet of fifth year students at Auburn University, it forms a separate addition to the Hale County Empowerment and Revitalization (HERO) Family Resource Centre. The building is used by a number of social and legal agencies to interview and counsel children who have suffered mental, physical or sexual abuse. Although the centre is modest in scale, it provides Greensboro with an important civic resource. Before it was established, there were no facilities of this kind in Hale County. which meant that both children and agencies were obliged to make an arduous one hour trip to the neighbouring town of Tuscaloosa.

With its brightly painted timber cladding, corrugated metal roofs and windows set at jauntily skewed angles, the building exudes a robust, rustic informality, yet it still has great tectonic presence and rigour. This spirit is common to all Rural Studio projects, which involve participating students in the associated practical challenges presented by construction.

The process of designing and building puts the students' educational values into practice as citizens of a community. Abstract ideas based upon knowledge and study are transformed into workable solutions forged by real human contact and an understanding of the complex social and economic issues that underscore the art of architecture. C.S.

Architect

Rural Studio, Auburn, USA

Photographs

Timothy Hursley

1. The childrens centre in its urban setting extending an existing family resource centre.

2. Two barn-like structures are linked by a tall rustic arcade.

3. The little building has a robust tectonic rigour born of inventive economy of form and materials.

4. Meeting room.

5. The arcade forms an elongated outdoor room and leads to a play ground and garden beyond.