Harney County Head Start

The Head Start Early Childhood Center in Burns, Oregon serves families throughout the largest county in the State of Oregon. This project replaces an inadequate facility with a new, sustainably designed building that includes five classrooms, a playground landscape, meeting facilities and staff support.

The classrooms are open and simple with small subspaces along the edges that allow good visibility for teachers while creating flexible settings for activities. All the classrooms face south for optimal daylighting and passive heating, and each opens directly on to the playground. Radiant floor heating and natural ventilation work to create a comfortable, quiet, energy-efficient place for learning.