Head Start Western Heights
Head Start Western Heights
YEAR:
Project 2022
LOCATION:
Knoxville, TN
SIZE:
22,000 sf
Partnering with Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC), Community Action Committee (CAC), and Head Start Knoxville, MHM designed a new 22,000 SF preschool for the Western Heights neighborhood in the city of Knoxville. The goal of the project was to deliver a new facility to educate children from infant to age 5.
The sloping site at the entrance to the neighborhood presented challenges for traffic and site circulation. A two-story building with entries at each level allows site circulation to separate bus and auto traffic patterns by the age group levels attending.
With a color palette inspired by our great smoky mountains, the interior provides a lively and functional space for the staff of Head Start and the community. Serving more than 130 children, the facility includes four infant and toddler classrooms and six preschool classrooms. The building also contains a full commercial kitchen, a community room assembly space, and two playgrounds with covered and uncovered portions to allow outdoor activity during inclement weather.
A key in transforming Western Heights, this project connects the building with the surrounding community at the street level by breaking down the scale through brick materiality and multiple roof gables.