Texas School for the Deaf Administration and Welcome Center and Early Learning Center 31

Austin, Texas

Firm

McKinney York Architects

Client

Texas School for the Deaf

Area

66,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$13,600,000

Completion Date

12/2021

Leonid Furmansky

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Inspired by the interwoven volumes and voids formed by moving hands during sign language communication, the Texas School for the Deaf Welcome Center and Early Learning Center draws from both the school’s rich heritage and its optimistic future.

Programmatic functions—from classrooms supporting the school’s youngest students up to administrative spaces supporting the superintendent—are integrated in one location. They create a place that represents the fullness of the school’s educational mission. Incorporated throughout the building are DeafSpace principles—formal guidelines developed by the deaf community to assist in creating environments inflected toward the unique experience of deafness. These include generous glazed areas, continuous sight lines, rounded circulation spaces, and concave shapes symbolizing gatherings in the round to facilitate signed communication.

The resulting project is simultaneously rooted in the school’s past while actively engaging in a more equitable and inclusive future for the deaf community across the state.