Preschool-Psychology Lab Facility

The Grinnell College Preschool-Psychology Laboratory facility houses a preschool program that is run through Grinnell College’s Psychology Department. The Psychology Department uses the preschool to observe child behavior as a part of their curriculum. The primary spaces of the building include a preschool classroom and adjacent observation room. In addition, the building includes smaller meeting rooms that are used for activities developed by the college students to observe specific child behavior patterns, and an indoor large motor skills space, which was also constructed as a storm shelter. The building also has a kitchen, restrooms, break room, children’s locker area, office, and multiple storage rooms. The new building replaces a much smaller existing facility that lacked separate observation and meeting spaces. Observations and activities were often skewed, as the college students were in the classroom space with the preschoolers, creating an environment of interaction in lieu of observation.

The new building is intended to fit within the context of its site, which is a residential neighborhood; the building is a single story with a gable roof. The interiors were designed to take advantage of natural daylight and views in and out of the building. The building incorporates a geothermal heating/cooling source, CO2 sensors, and occupancy sensors as a means of reducing energy usage. The college also opted to include photovoltaic cells to help produce electricity for the building.

To improve the interior quality for the pre-school children, an in-slab heating system was used at the classroom and large motor room (for thermal comfort) and window sills are dropped to a height where views can be observed by children. Also, low VOC products and non-formaldehyde products were used in the building construction.