 | 1 LU |
| 1 LU |
Pending Acceptance and Subject to Change
The Bridges Adult Transition Center is an innovative new facility that cultivates a forward-thinking instructional model for students with special needs. The new facility supports young adults, ages 18-21, in transitioning from high school to adulthood through innovative design and pedagogies with a focus on personal skills, vocational training, and community-based instruction. The Center’s design incorporates immersive experiential labs, such as Kitchen and Apartment Labs, to provide students real-world applications and education. Insights from both district administration and architects will highlight this often-overlooked student population and the specialized learning environments of the Bridges Center.
Learning Objectives:
Pat Callahan, AIA, ALEP, LEED-AP, Senior Principal, StudioGC, p.callahan@studiogc.com
Throughout Pat’s career and as a founding principal of StudioGC, he has concentrated his efforts on the planning and design of educational facilities. His personal involvement with schools includes the development of educational specifications, planning, program development and design. Pat’s professional experience and personal interest in the educational field have provided him with the unique ability to recognize the needs and concerns of high school students, faculty and administrators, and translate those needs into successful design solutions.
Athi Toufexis, AIA, ALEP, LEED-AP, Principal, StudioGC, a.toufexis@studiogc.com
Athi specializes in designing engaging educational environments for learners of all abilities. She supports school districts and communities in transforming their visions into inspiring built realities through collaborative planning, design, and implementation. As one of StudioGC’s preK-12 Practice Leaders, Athi strives to create future-ready solutions to better prepare students for the ever-evolving world of tomorrow.
The built and natural environments have profound impacts on our behaviors both for better and worse. How do we cultivate a sense of place for better? How might the built and natural environments be made to enhance teaching and learning? How might school buildings and grounds foster a sense of community by reflecting those they serve?
Primary Core Competency
Educational Visioning: Exhibits an understanding of best and next practices related to educational leadership, programming, teaching, learning, planning and facility design. Establishes credibility with educators, community members and design professionals while conceiving and leading a community-based visioning process. Demonstrates the ability to articulate the impact of learning environments on teaching and learning and uses that ability to facilitate a dialogue that uncovers the unique needs and long-range goals of an educational institution and its stakeholders – translating that into an actionable written/graphic program of requirements for the design practitioner.