In San Antonio, Pre-K 4 SA, which provides preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, and HOLT Group, which owns industrial and other companies, recently broke ground on an early childhood education: the South Education Center.
Slated for completion by summer 2025, the South Education Center aims to provide access to high-quality early childhood education for the southeast side of San Antonio—a traditionally under-resourced region and an area identified as a childcare desert.
In recent years, south and southeast San Antonio has seen a decline in high-quality childcare options, especially for families with kids 4 years and younger, according to a press statement from Pre-K 4 SA and HOLT Group.
The design by RDG Planning+Design offers abundant light throughout the building. The center’s colors and natural materials, such as stone, wood, and green walls, were inspired by the local landscape, culture, and landmarks, including the San Fernando Cathedral.
Each space in the center has been designed to foster young children’s growth and development and encourage learning through play. Every classroom offers direct access to outdoor porch settings and play areas. All exterior play areas are shielded by the building to create a safe environment away from busy streets and parking lots.
“This school takes inspiration from the natural surroundings and the cultural vibrancy of San Antonio, seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor spaces to create an engaging, enriching place for young learners,” Antonio Plascencia, principal senior designer, said in a statement.
The state-of-the-art facility features modern classrooms equipped to meet the highest early childhood education standards. Specialized spaces will support families, teacher collaboration, and interactive learning and play-based activities.
On the Building Team:
Owner/developer: Holt Texas, Ltd.
Design architect: RDG Planning+Design
Architect of record: Pfluger Architects
MEP engineer: Cleary Zimmermann Engineers
Structural engineer: Lundy & Franke Engineering
General contractor: G.W. Mitchell Construction
Landscaping: Rialto Studio
Technology: Combs Consulting Group
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2001%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2002%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2003%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2004%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2005%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-15%20Exterior%2006%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.jpg)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Classroom_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Corporate%20Entry_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Corridor_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Corridor_Final_logos_CROPPED%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Education%20Entry_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Education%20Plaza_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Open%20Office_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
![San Antonio's Pre-K 4 SA school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region. Rendering courtesy Pfluger Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/2024_01-05%20Training%20Room_Final_logos%20Tony%20rendering%20courtesy%20Pfluger%20Architects.png)
Related Stories
| Sep 4, 2013
K-12 school design that pays off for students
More and more educators are being influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogy, with its mantra of “environment as the third teacher”—an approach that gives Building Teams a responsibility to pay even closer attention to the special needs of today’s schools.
| Sep 3, 2013
'School in a box' project will place school in San Diego public library
Thinking outside the box, LPA Inc. is designing a school inside a box. With an emphasis on three E’s—Engage, Educate, and Empower—e3 Civic High is now being constructed on the sixth and seventh floors of a public library in downtown San Diego. Library patrons will be able to see into the school via glass elevators, but will not have physical access to the school.
| Aug 30, 2013
Modular classrooms gaining strength with school boards
With budget, space needs, and speed-to-market pressures bearing down on school districts, modular classroom assemblies are often a go-to solution.
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Five projects receive 2013 Educational Facility Design Excellence Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 12, 2013
New York’s first net-zero school will be a sustainability lab for city school system
An elementary school on Staten Island will be the first net-zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast. The school is designed to use half the energy of a typical New York public school. Construction will be completed in 2015.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 22, 2013
School officials and parents are asking one question: Can design prevent another Sandy Hook? [2013 Giants 300 Report]
The second deadliest mass shooting by a single person in U.S. history galvanizes school officials, parents, public officials, and police departments, as they scrambled to figure out how to prevent a similar incident in their communities.