Sunshine Youth and Family Activities Program Center
Location: Sweet Home, OR | Completion Date: In Progress
Sunshine Industries and the Community Services Consortium came to 2fORM Architecture with an ambitious goal—to design a new day-program facility to serve the developmentally disabled population that is served by Sunshine Industries.
Their program was extremely interesting: to create areas for people to work at vocational tasks during the day (a wood shop, an area for paper shredding and a craft area), a quiet room, teaching spaces (including a kitchen and laundry space), a covered outdoor space that is a safe place to congregate, and offices for support staff.
It was important to the client that the building be sustainable and fit into the vernacular architecture of the rural area. The long, narrow plan allows for ample cross ventilation. The covered patio on the west side of the day room provides shade from the hot western sun. Lots of large windows allow daylight to fill the spaces, reducing the need for artificial lighting in the daytime. Solar panels on the south facing roof offset the electricity consumption of the building and will pay for themselves in less than five years.
The entire building was designed to be completely accessible since the facility’s clients have various levels of disability. The building is all on one grade so no ramps are required. The corridors are wider than a typical corridor and the double doors provide for ease of movement.
With the schematic design work completed, the owners are currently seeking funding from the Oregon Community Block Grant program as well as other local funding sources.