Project Architect: Zooco Studio

Local Architect: Scalar Architecture PC

Client: Big and Tiny / Brooklfield

Sq Ft 3000 sf

Contractor: CJS NYC

Big and Tiny is a family oriented 3000sf early childhood daycare and preschool located in lower Manhattan. Big and Tiny was founded with the commitment to create a new lifestyle for families, where work and home life can thrive together. The company offers an early childhood preschool program that allows parents to focus on their work while their children learn and grow in a safe and nurturing environment.

When it came to designing its Manhattan location, the team faced the challenge of fitting five classrooms within the space required by the regulations. By dynamically displacing and rotating the set of geometric cells, we were able to achieve the classroom area requirements. The remaining space between the classrooms and the glass façade serves as access and playground for the students. To create a home-like feel for their educational system, the design of the building is like little houses with sloping roofs. The design is a metaphor for the domestic and home, as it aligns with the original educational system of Big and Tiny. Lastly, a glass strip that allows the sun and Manhattan's waterfront shine through the entire day care and unites all spaces visually while enhancing the sense of community inside and out.

As local architects, Scalar enjoyed bringing to fruition the project of the talented Zooco Studio from Spain and the visionary client Big and Tiny. Scalar overcame challenges such as building an inspired and precise geometry, coordinating complex environmental engineering integration, and securing fire and life safety and change of occupancy approvals to provide services to families in record time