A preview of Blake’s state-of-the-art Early Learning Center, designed by HGA.
For over 100 years, the Blake School has served students throughout the Twin Cities, Minnesota metropolitan area, preparing them to become lifelong learners and make lasting contributions to the world. The school currently serves students in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 on three campuses, with two of those campuses serving Lower School students. Starting in the 2023-24 school year, Blake will unify its two Lower School locations on Blake’s campus in Hopkins. The updated campus will feature a new Early Learning Center for pre-k through first-grade students and a reimagined Upper Elementary space (in the current Lower School building) for students in second through fifth grades.
Blake’s goal for the project is to create a state-of-the-art teaching and learning center that creates a sense of welcome, wonder, and joy for its students. The ELC’s project vision includes five guiding principles:
- Child-centered – a place where children are seen as intelligent, creative and capable learners.
- Belonging to all – a hub for fostering connection and a sense of belonging.
- Rooted in nature – built with green materials and designed to forge indoor-outdoor connections.
- Embracing a pluralistic future – created, from the ground up, for students, families and educators from all backgrounds and lived experiences.
- Sparking curiosity – a special place that will invite inquiry, exploration, and wonder.
In support of Blake’s commitment to equity and a pluralistic community, HGA’s team and school leadership are engaging teachers and administrators to ensure the Early Learning Center (ELC) will be inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Scheduled to be completed before the start of the 2023-2024 school year, the ELC will serve 165 learners creating a child-centered experience in a sustainably focused facility. The design embraces Blake’s Reggio-inspired early childhood program fostering connections to the world and environment, encouraging investigation and inquiry, and embracing children as creative, intelligent, and capable.
Programming
Nestled in the hillside of the Hopkins campus, the ELC has three floors, one for each grade: the Field Level for Pre-K, the Forest Level for kindergarten, and the Treetop Level for first grade. Promoting collaboration and integration, the classrooms are organized in a pinwheel pattern and offer direct outdoor access, including to the nearby Blake Forest.
The heart of the building is a light-filled space designed to connect all three floors visually and physically with community-building spaces in the commons area, dining space, and library. Additional educational spaces include a learning kitchen, art studio, and strings and music studios. Playful elements incorporated specifically for the young students include a slide integrated with the main stairway, a movement studio floor with colorful shapes, and interior windows at a child’s height, perfect for exploration.
Sustainability
Striving for maximizing energy reduction and long-term operational efficiency, the ELC will be the first fossil fuel-free education building in the State of Minnesota. The new ELC will reflect a special focus on climate, conservation, and the environment with a geothermal system for heating and cooling and fully electric systems supported by 100% renewable energy purchased from the utility. The building will include careful integration of natural daylighting, mass timber construction, and an emphasis on natural materials. Biophilic design will connect students, faculty, and visitors to nature through strong indoor-outdoor connections, views to nature, and an interior finish palette inspired by the patterns and colors of the natural world. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building will provide a framework for a future of discovery, exploration, and curiosity for the blossoming learners at Blake.
The Early Learning Center experience at The Blake School’s Hopkins campus will lay the foundation for the remarkable journey that is a Blake education.
Learn more and see a virtual walk-through of the design here.
Blake Early Learning Center Ribbon Cutting on April 11, 2022. Photo credit: Rebecca Slater.
