Early Childhood Specialists

ROFDW Architects - Early Childhood Specialists

Over the course of the last decade, ROFDW has designed dozens of facilities for children for agencies and corporations coast to coast. Starting with the expansion of the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas on-site facility in 1987 and the downtown Dallas General Services Administration project in 1986, we began a database of specialized knowledge with respect to safety, liability and security, early childhood development, building codes, accreditation requirements, and a myriad of other influences on indoor and outdoor environments for children. What we have found to be the benefit of this database, is that having this expertise allows us the luxury of spending our project time dealing with the quality of the childhood environment, what makes the facility a place of nurturing, growth and positive development, and not an institutional center for babysitting. For children, we believe that makes all the difference in the world. Every setting is unique, and requires a unique solution, not a cookie-cutter, off-the-shelf, canned solution. So every opportunity related to facilities for children is important to us, because it is the opportunity of their lifetime.

The following is a brief synopsis of the types of children's facilities with which we have completed project experience:

On-site corporate child care for children of employees, ranging in capacity from 100 to 400 children

Not-for-profit facilities for children of homeless, disadvantaged families

Early childhood center, in conjunction with a major University Department of Education

Military, on-base child care

On-site center supporting multi-shift hospital staff, with sick child care capability

Special programs for after school, school age and backup (drop-in) care

"Special needs" children, with physical and mental disability impairments

The project delivery process has numerous variations and is still evolving, and again needs to be customized to fit the situation. Our experience has been diverse and we can assist in the development of the correct solution for the situation. We have direct experience with the following types of project delivery:

Traditional design/bid/build process

Design/build

Program management/Construction management

Negotiation/guaranteed maximum pricing

Prequalified, select bid list

The bottom line: The process of developing facilities for children is not complete until the building is turned over to the Owner, ready for move-in. We have taken every step in the process, and our constant attention is focused on the perspective of the child - making sure that the good decisions we make for children in the design phase don't get lost in the process of construction and engineering.

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