PBS 140 Child Care Center Design Guide - The Whole Building ...

CHAPTER 6: SITE DESIGN
The arrangement should minimize the risk to pedestrians and allow safe
flow of vehicles through the area. The parking should never be arranged in
a way that forces children or persons in wheelchairs to proceed behind
parked cars. Such an arrangement may mean that a driver is unable to
see such pedestrians when backing up. Walkways in front of vehicles must
be protected by tire guards, bollards or some other means to prevent any
portion of a vehicle from advancing into the walkway zones. Locate the
parking away from busy intersections or vehicle circulation routes.
For emergency purposes, at least one parking space, typically for the center
director’s use must be provided as near to the center entrance as possible.
If Federal employee parking is provided at the building, allow one parking
space for each child care center employee for every ten children of center
capacity. Disabled employees must be accommodated with a properly
sized parking space(s) as near to the center as possible.
As the site configuration and location allow, the employee parking spaces
should be located as near to the center as possible for safety and ease of
access. (It should be noted that, in winter months particularly, staff members
may be required to leave the center after dark, when most other employees
will have already left the premises.) Ideally, an unobstructed line of sight
should be provided between the interior of the center director’s office through
the center entrance and into the short term parking. At a minimum, two
permanent parking spaces will be assigned to the child care center. Note
that in rare cases, permanent parking will not be available. If two permanent
spaces cannot be provided, approval must be obtained from the RCCC to
waive the requirement. This does not change the need for identifying
reserved parking spaces as near to the center as possible for short-term
parking for parents.
Parents are required to physically bring their child(ren) into the center to
“sign in,” and to pick up their child(ren) inside the center and “sign out.”
The reverse is true in the evening. The center usually opens at 6:30 AM
and fills on a bell curve that peaks around 10 AM when the building will be
at maximum preschool/infant/toddler capacity. Staff will arrive for work
only as an increased number of children fill the building. In the evening,
teachers will remain only as long as necessary to maintain the required
staff to child ratio. A completely full building will be extremely rare due to
illnesses or family vacations. In addition, many of the children in the facility
will have a sibling enrolled at the center, further reducing auto traffic. The
average time for loading and unloading (parking time) is seven minutes. In
the absence of actual data, the following formula may be used:
6-2
Formula: Full capacity x .7 / 8.57 = minimum number of drop off spaces
Additional parking should include spaces for staff vans and handicapped.
Staff parking should be provided for 80% of employees required at peak
capacity. Accessible parking spaces may be considered as staff or drop
off spaces.
The employee parking area should be designed to minimize dependence
on conventional automobiles, by maximizing the following strategies
enumerated in the LEED Version 2.0 Credit on Alternative Transportation:
� Size parking capacity not to exceed minimum local zoning requirements.
� Add no new parking for rehabilitation projects.
� Provide preferred parking for carpools or van pools capable of serving
5% of the building occupants.
� Provide suitable means for securing bicycles, for 5% or more of building
occupants.
� Consider also the installation of alternative-fuel refueling station(s) for
3% of the total vehicle parking capacity of the site. This may be feasible
if combined with the fueling needs of a larger campus.
As in any other work place, staff may chose to travel to work by a number
of means. Other features to assist those choosing to commute via bicycle
(secure bicycle parking), public transportation (close and safe passage to
bus or metro stops), or carpool (designated preferred parking spaces) must
be provided to serve at least 5% of the adult building occupants.
6.2.3 Service:
Service access to a center will typically make use of the main building dock
space and service access if the main building provides these areas. In a
stand-alone center, a dock is not necessary. Service access for sanitation
removal, food and supply delivery, if these are not provided by the main
building, should be separated from short-term and staff parking. Likewise,
a sanitation dumpster with screening may be necessary if this service is
not provided by the main building. One service parking space is desirable
to avoid conflicts in deliveries if possible in the context where the center is
located. The ventilation system design should ensure that emissions from
vehicles at the service entry are isolated from the indoor air of the occupied
space of the child care center.
6.2.4 Security:
A prime area of concern in the establishment of a child care center is security.
The design team must coordinate with local representatives of GSA’s Fed-
PBS-140 - July 2003