Back to School Madness

Back to school has a different meaning to me than it does to probably most people.  I don't have children and I don't work at a schoold.  So there are no "first day of school" outfits or "first day jitters".  For me back to school means that all of my school projects are coming to a head and HAVE TO BE DONE for the first day.  School projects are always super crazy b/c they can not start until school is out in May (unless it is an all new, ground up building) and they have to be completed by the first of August, when school starts back.  And if you are doing work in the classrooms you have to be done in time for teachers to actually move ALL their stuff back in.  So, needless to say come the end of July/first of August, our office gets crazy busy.  We are fielding calls from the contractors, doing punch lists {where you walk through the project and write down everything that still needs to be done}, and trying to avoid any last minute problems. 

I want to share one project with you that is almost complete.  We took an old gymnasium and turned it into an Early Childhood Center that has 3 classrooms and a large activity space.  One of the classrooms is their reading room, complete with a "Reading Treehouse".  This is something that I came up with in Sketchup {a 3D redering program that we use}, sold it to the client AND THEN had to figure out how to build it.  Here is the Sketchup Rendering:

Once the client approved the concept then it was on to figuring out how it all goes together.  Many people get the idea that interior designers simply choose paint colors and carpet, which we do, but that is not all.  Here is the next step in the process....Construction Drawings:

Construction Drawings tell the contractors what to do...it's their map.  You have to call out every last detail because they can't read your mind and they won't call every 5 seconds with questions.  Everything from the carpet, wall base, the metal on the treehouse roof, it all has to be specified.

Here are some more renderings of the ECC space...

Classroom

Classroom

Art Classroom

The client wanted the space to be welcoming and kid friendly.  I think we have accomplished that.  There is nothing worse {in my opinion} than a big white box of a room....white floor, white walls, white ceilings, cold, cold, and cold! 

So, check back for finished photographs....they are almost complete and it is looking AWESOME!