Location: San Francisco, CA

La Piccola Scola Italiano, an Italian language immersion preschool in San Francisco represents a collaborative effort along with lead architects ZPZ partners of Modena Italy led by Michele Zini and the local firm Tectonics. The school employs a Reggio Emilia influenced curriculum (in addition to 100% Italian language immersion) and was looking for a design team who understood their approach and could bring extensive experience in innovative children’s environments to bear on their project. The project is a total renovation of a one-story structure in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco along with the adjacent outdoor play area. The project was done on a tight budget and extremely aggressive schedule. It focuses on creating light transparent spaces and has a highly refined sense of detail and color carried through to the level of the furniture and lighting. The project was opened in the fall of 2010 and final completion of the outdoor play spaces is scheduled for early 2012.