2022 Design Team of the Year finalist: Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center

Last edited 11:21 a.m., Nov. 2, 2022

The Sept. 15, 2022, ribbon-cutting event for the Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center simultaneously celebrated its first year and its 100th.

Built in 1922, the former administrative office building for the Ozark School District was renovated and fitted with a walkway to join it to the existing early childhood building for an expanded facility that could serve more students.

“It was a great reuse of a building,” said architect Melissa Higbie, partner at Esterly Schneider & Associates Inc. “We gutted the old administration building down to its structure, then remodeled and reconfigured how the inside would work.”

That presented some challenges, Higbie said.

“A remodel project is always a lot harder than ground up,” she said. “There’s so much you have to do first in investigative work, making sure you’re doing the fieldwork and you understand all the pieces and parts.”

She said early challenges were eliminating lead and asbestos, as well as improving the building’s envelope with tuck pointing and new windows. Ramps and elevators were installed to reconcile the different heights of the two buildings.

The new design eliminates lay-in ceilings.

“It’s not confined – it’s airy and light,” she said. “There’s glass in the corridors to bring light from outside into the middle of the building. That’s my favorite part.”

But Higbie said the highlight of any project is seeing it in use.

“I think the kids loved it,” she said. “They loved the colors, loved the space, the light. You can see it in their faces, how excited they are to be in class.”

Higbie said the main hurdle was getting all parts of the team coordinated, especially through the pandemic.

“We needed to make sure it came in on time and on the budget the school could afford,” she said.

Higbie added students came first in the project for the district.

“That was the main theme from day one,” she said.