Martinez Early Learning Center

The new Martínez Early Learning Center will be the first of multiple full-day Pre-K Childhood Centers in Alief ISD. The new center will be approximately 78,000 SF and will accommodate 550 students. The design of the space encourages educational opportunities around every corner.

When designing the building, the team focused on the importance of scale within the space to accommodate the district’s youngest students, while also working to meet students’ needs for intellectual development. The design utilizes “houses” arranged along a communal corridor and adjacent to an interior courtyard. Materials that are visually and texturally interesting are incorporated throughout the corridors to encourage exploration and engagement by the students. A set of four houses is arranged to make up a “neighborhood” that is then defined by the use of color, iconography and wayfinding elements.