New Bancroft Campus responds to the challenges of autism through design

KSS Architects worked with Bancroft to design a new 80-acre campus inspired by the needs and challenges of children with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and those in need of neurological rehabilitation.

The Bancroft campus, located in Mount Laurel, N.J., will be home to The Bancroft School, The Lindens Center for Autism Residential Program, Lindens Neurobehavioral Program, Campus Residence Programs, Activity Center, and an Integrated Health Center.

BANCROFT EXTERIOR Edward Caruso Photography.

Common spaces are linked with shared resources that include vocational storefronts with classrooms behind, a Training Institute, and spaces for art, music, and fitness. The master plan brings community and learning spaces, therapeutic environments, and residential units together in modest and secluded groupings for privacy and comfort. A recreation and therapy pool and a custom-designed dental suite for de-sensitization are also included. The campus is connected to the surrounding environment via a nature trail and views of farm fields, streams, and a pond.

Exterior of the new Bancroft campus Edward Caruso Photography.

The new campus will open on Jan. 3, 2018.

Bancroft exterior common Edward Caruso Photography.

LPA Architects conducted a post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, of the eSTEM Academy, a new high school specializing in health/medical and design/engineering Career Technical Education, in Eastvale, Calif. The POE helped LPA, the Riverside County Office of Education, and the Corona-Norco Unified School District gain a better understanding of which design innovations—such as movable walls, flex furniture, collaborative spaces, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and a student union—enhanced the education program, and how well students and teachers used these innovations.

Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021

Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]

New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.