Reach Dane, a Madison-based nonprofit that provides childcare and family supportive services to over 1,000 underserved children in Dane and Green counties, approached Middleton-based Sketchworks Architecture to design a high quality, early childcare facility. The organization, which already has 17 locations throughout Dane and Green counties, had purchased a building on the city’s South side to open another location to provide full school day programming for preschool children. Besides childcare for kids ages 0-5, the 21,000-square-foot facility also needed to accommodate a variety of services for parents, family and community engagement, including adult and parent education, housing, employment and more. Reach Dane wanted a new, cutting-edge design for this facility. Given the children they serve, our team came up with a design concept centered around nature as a healing, restorative, joyful environment. This solution was perfect as the Owners staff prioritized contact with nature. The design offers many nature-themed occupational therapy opportunities for sensory play and therapy purposes.
