Pratt Center for Community Development

Bushwick Child Care Center

Client: Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, Inc.

Project Type: Child Care Center

Project Size: 16,000 s.f.

Construction Cost: Estimated $1,882,000

Projected Completion: 2005

The Ridgewood Bushwick Child Care Center is part of an urban renewal project on the once blighted Rheingold Brewery site in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The child care center will occupy the first two floors of a new building that will offer 62 apartments to low-income people, financed through the New York State Housing Trust Fund. One hundred twenty children from the community will attend the new day care facility.

As Design Architects for the project, the Pratt Center resolved the challenge of accessibility posed by the entry's location between the basement and first floor levels by designing long ramps that gracefully move through the core of the space. While remaining fully accessible, the ramps eliminate the need for elevators that require costly maintenance.

Architectural plan for the child care center (click image to see full size)