Referral List of Architects with Child Care Facilities Development Experience in California

Introduction

How The List is Organized

The list is divided into three regions Northern California, Central California, and Southern California, and by county within each region.

Architects generally will work outside their county, and many work on projects statewide. Generally, the larger the job, the further an Architect is willing to travel.

Northern California: Alameda | Contra Costa | Marin | Sacramento| San Francisco | San Joaquin | San Mateo | Santa Clara | Santa Cruz | Shasta | Sonoma Central California: Fresno | Kern | Kings | Monterey | San Luis Obispo | Santa Barbara Southern California: Los Angeles | Orange | Riverside | San Bernardino | San Diego

The architect for a child care center will have a major impact on the design process, the project's development, and the project's total cost. An architect experienced in child care centers design will have a greater understanding of the specific needs and problems associated with a child care center, from the correct height of sinks for children, to licensing and code compliance. An experienced architect can improve the functioning and child-safety of a facility, and reduce the need for maintenance and future design changes.

The Purpose of The Referral List

This list is provided as a resource to assist child care providers in finding an experienced architect interested in working on child care facilities. BCC does not endorse or claim to have personal knowledge of any of the architects listed. The architects listed supplied all information regarding their experience. In addition to using this referral list, the BCC encourages you to contact other child care centers similar to yours for additional referrals.

Request information from prospective architects on their firm, and their child care facilities experience. Ask for references of clients with projects similar to yours. Contact the references to see what their experience was. Interview more than one architect.

How the List was Created

The Architects List was complied from three sources:

1. A survey to recently licensed Child Care Centers and Large Family Child Care Homes across the State requesting contact information of architects they recommended.
   
2. Architect contact information from local contacts in the child care field throughout California.
   
3. Architects who listed themselves with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as having a "focus" on Child Care Facilities.

All architects listed were contacted directly before being included.

Because this document will be updated regularly, please feel free to contact the BCC with any changes. If you are listed in this resource, please feel free to contact us with any edits you'd like to make to your listing.

Other Resources for Hiring an Architect

Questions for the architect is a list of topics and questions that will be helpful in conducting interviews with an architect.

Consumer's Guide to Hiring an Architect
-by The California Architects Board
400 R Street, Suite 4000
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-3393 Voice

How to Choose an Architect
-by Spaces for Children
(Child care facilities experts)
Expertise encompasses the overall programming and design of child care buildings, including complete architectural services, furniture, and play structure design.

Resources in Hiring a Contractor

Always make sure to check a contractor's License, references, qualifications, and insurance before making any financial commitments.

The California State Licensing Board has resources for consumers:

• What you Should Know Before you Hire a Contractor
• License Check
  
• Things to Consider: Do's and Don'ts

BCC's Referral List of Contractors with Child Care Facilities Experience (pdf 34 kb)

Other Child Care Design Resources - Design Resource links

National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities: Early Childhood Centers
A resource list of links, books, and journal articles with extensive information on design guidelines, quality indicators and safety requirements for early childhood facilities

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
(National Safety Standards)

NRC's mission is to promote health and safety in out-of-home child care settings throughout the nation. They publish Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, Second Edition, available on-line, or for purchase.

Kaboom
(Playground building resources, publications, and grants)

Non-profit organization that specializes in linking communities and corporations together to build much-needed, safe and accessible playgrounds, and has helped build more playgrounds than any other service organization

National Program for Playground Safety
(Playground safety resources)

NPPS acts as a national clearinghouse for playground safety information; conducts ongoing research in the area of injury prevention; produces educational videos addressing the roles of various audiences in injury prevention; and runs a national information hotline (800-554-PLAY) about playground injury prevention.

Spaces for Children
(Child care facilities experts)

Expertise encompasses the overall programming and design of child care buildings, including complete architectural services, furniture, and play structure design.

Design Childcare
(Child care planning and design services)

Disclaimer

The Referral List of Architects is provided to assist child care providers in facilities development and should not be used on its own in selecting an architect. Building Child Care does not endorse or claim to have personal knowledge of any of the architects listed. The Referral List of Architects is a work in progress and is not intended to be a complete list of architects with child care experience. The information provided in the Referral List of Architects was supplied by the architects listed.