Exeter, NH (October 12, 2007)—Phillips Exeter Academy’s Harris Family Children’s Center (HFCC) is a 2007 recipient of a DesignShare Award. The center was one of seven educational buildings selected worldwide in the merit category for its architectural structure and purpose.

The DesignShare Awards Program is the world’s most widely recognized program focusing on the design of innovative learning environments. It is sponsored by office furniture designer Herman Miller, and metal works and castings manufacturer, VS America, to showcase an annual collection of award-winning projects from around the globe. The awards program is unique because it focuses beyond architecture and more on the experience of learning, the learners, and how man-made and natural environments can provide learning opportunities.

The Harris Family Children’s Center, which opened in 2006, offers care to children of Phillips Exeter Academy families and the surrounding community. Their new, state-of-the-art facility consists of two blended-age classrooms for infants and toddlers, a preschool program, a 3/4-day kindergarten and an after-school program for children through 8 years old.

The HFCC’s design of high function and adaptability grew from a collaboration between educators and architects. They wanted to create classroom environments that encouraged open-ended experiences, a sharing of ideas, an appreciation of arts and sciences, and room for exploration and experimentation.

The team worked to create an environment that was aesthetically pleasing to children and adults, offering comfortable alternative areas where parents can spend time with their children. Spacious classrooms and common areas are incorporated for children to explore, collaborate, and engage in multi-sensorial experiences. One of the children’s favorite areas is the Harkness Conservatory, modeled after the Italian Atelier.

Natural light bathes the open spaces, creating a direct correlation between the building’s interior and the exterior. Windows in the center are positioned low enough for children to observe the change of seasons. The center’s lobby area opens to a huge wall of windows looking out over the great lawn and the river beyond.

DesignShare Award jurors described the HFCC as “beautiful, inviting, and captivating.

“Talk about a very modern/clean European feel, and yet here it is in an East Coast (U.S.) private school setting,” one said. “This seems more like a school that could be found in Finland or Denmark. Love all the clean white walls with the modern wooden furniture. Great aesthetic.” — Christian Long 

“A well-designed space, open and full of light, on a beautiful site,” added juror Judy Marks. “In fact, it exudes ‘HOME.’ The footprint is very straightforward, but the spaces inside, with some curved walls, some small and intimate rooms, some high and open rooms, are quite brilliant. Great choice of interior finishes.”

For more information on the HFCC, visit our website at http://www.exeter.edu/about_us/about_us_1163.aspx. A list of upcoming events is available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309 and on our website at http://www.exeter.edu/news_and_events/news_events_1325.aspx. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. To learn more about upcoming events at Exeter, check the News & Events section of the website.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 45 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and 23 foreign countries.