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A few years ago, I had the chance to visit a corporate child care center in Racine, Wisconsin, that had been touted for years as being state of the art. A group of us, including William Brubaker of Perkins & Will Architects from Chicago, famous for their school building designs, were invited to tour the facility and give our impressions to the director.

We were quite amazed by the center. In the middle was a giant gym-like space, with a very high, two-story ceiling and lots of light pouring in from all sides. It was very photogenic. However, it was also incredibly noisy and, as a result, often underutilized.


As we talked with the staff members and observed children in the rooms surrounding the central "atrium," the noise poured in on us. The director was well aware of this problem, just a few ...