Congregation Micah Children’s Academy

Manuel Zeitlin Architects designed the addition and renovation to the existing Congregation Micah for the new Micah Children’s Academy. Two additions are included in the project: The first is a glass "pavilion" facing north, housing a multipurpose and art room respectively that are joined by a common servery.  Both rooms open to a new landscaped north terrace through a pair of sixteen foot wide sliding doors that connect the interior and exterior spaces.  The material palette is primarily aluminum storefront glazing, cypress wood and a stucco soffit giving the light filled modern addition a soft, natural feel. The second is a new vestibule at the west end of the building that will become the new daycare and Sunday school entrance with a generous exterior cypress and stucco overhang. The two separate additions are connected by a gently sloping common roof that ties the two sections of the project together and helps create a new foreground for the existing building. The remainder of the project includes the reconfiguration of the existing classrooms to accommodate the new daycare facility and a new "natural" playground designed by landscape consultant Sari Barton. The in-between spaces provide opportunities for the types of unscheduled creative interaction that makes a school special.