Living and Learning Center for Developmentally Disabled Adults, Brookville MD
The program was to create a new living and learning center in a "normalized" non-institutional environment for developmentally disabled adults on a 10 acre site near Olney, MD. Designed in the vernacular style of the surrounding farm structures, the 12,000SF educational and 11,000SF residential buildings serve 40 clients, staff, 10 residents and caretakers. The buildings are situated on a curving axis to create a community-like arrangement and feature a steel columned front porch with open wooden trusses linking the residences together and the front entrance of the educational building.
Incorporating forms reminiscent of silos and barns, the educational building is sited perpendicular to the hillside to maximize the use of green space and features a northern wall of structural steel and glass which brings in plentiful light and frames a spectacular view of the hills, beyond. The auditorium/gym is the primary interior space of the educational building.