Orchard School, Julia Dyckman Andrus Children’s Home

Yonkers, New York

Firm

KG+D Architects, PC

Client

Andrus Children’s Home, Gary Carman, Executive Director

Area

35,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$4,500,000

Completion Date

09/1997

The Orchard School is part of a larger not-for-profit organization, the Julia Dyckman Andrus Children’s Home, which provides services to children. The emotionally challenged students at the Orchard School are in grades pre-K through 8. Many students live on campus, which is a former estate and working farm, during their stay.
The program required the creation of larger classrooms to meet the requirements of the state education department and to provide dedicated music, art, technology, computer and library spaces, as well as a full-service kitchen and dining area. Spaces had to be arranged to separate the two different age groups and to provide adjacent time-out rooms.
Maintaining the quality and character of the existing brick and slate roof dairy barns was a requirement of the owner. The new addition and complete renovation of the existing barns was accomplished with a matching brick exterior and new slate roofs. A new courtyard was created with a two-story L-shaped addition, and a new entrance stair was inserted underneath an existing pyramid roof at the end of the covered walkway.

Photographer: Bob Zucker/Corporate Photographics