quad preparatory school
LOCATION: NEW YORK, NY
AREA: 32,000 sf (lower school) 18,000 sf (upper school)
STATUS: completed 2016 (lower school); 2019 (upper school)
The Quad Preparatory School is one of New York's leading K-12 schools for neurodivergent students, and VCA has helped the school meet it rapidly growing demand by combining our design and planning skills with our research in designing for neurodiversity. The resulting in spaces fully support Quad’s educational and clinical model, which is tailored to "2E" (twice exceptional) students - kids with intellectual gifts and complex needs.
Quad is a not-for-profit independent school and every dollar matters; economy of means in the service of big goals is of paramount importance. VCA’s challenge at the Lower School was to create new types of spaces on an existing floor without triggering infrastructure changes. We subdivided large spaces with sound-absorbing panels and mobile furniture partitions and specified new furnishings throughout. For the upper school, we helped convert multiple levels of an office building into a school that with flexible learning spaces that provide sensory choice to students and teachers.