CHAPTER 5: PLANNING FOR SPACE AND LOCATION
CHAPTER 5:
a. Prime agricultural land as defined by the Farmland Trust.
b. Land with an elevation is lower than 5 feet above the 100-year
flood plane.
PLANNING FOR
c. Land that provides habitat for any endangered species.
d. Within 100 feet of any wetland. Playground may be in the wet-
lands.
SPACE AND LOCATION
e. Land which, prior to acquisition for the project, was public park
land, unless land of equal or greater value as park land is ac-
cepted in trade by the public land owner. (Park Authority projects
are exempt.)
This chapter contains criteria to be used in selecting a center
Where applicable, the Urban Redevelopment, Brownfield Redevelopment,
location and for planning and programming the space require-
and Reduced Site Disturbance criteria described in LEED Version 2.0 should
ments. Example space programs for different center sizes are
be met.
also provided. Any variances to the mandatory requirements
must be approved by the RCCC. The likelihood of the need
5.2 GSA Child Care Center
for such a variance should be identified as soon as possible
in the design process. Typically, this would be at the initial
design workshop or during the Prospectus Development Study
Enrollment Capacity
process.
For programming purposes, a typical center should be designed to serve
The center is subject to the state and (if applicable) local child
no fewer than 74 children because fewer than that may be financially difficult
care licensing requirements. The designer and the user must
for commercial providers to sustain, and may hasten future turnover of
review these requirements during the initial phases of design
providers. Though the typical center is approximately 74 children, there
so that later redesign is avoided. When there is apparent
are several existing centers in the GSA system which are substantially
contradiction, in consultation with the licensing authority, the
smaller or larger than this standard. At the same time, centers should not
standards deemed more restrictive shall apply.
exceed 150 children, unless they are designed as "pods" that can avoid
the feeling of an overwhelming institutional impression for small children.
5.1 Criteria for Center Location
Large centers that are not expressed as small components can engender
exactly the institutional environment that GSA seeks to avoid. If a center
The location of the child care center is critical to a child's safety, well being,
needs to serve more than 150, approval of the RCCC is required.
and quality of care. Location requirements can be grouped according to
the following broad categories of mandatory and recommended criteria:
enrollment, space, environment, safety, security, accessibility, and historic
5.3 Space Measurement Terms
preservation. For further detailed information on these categories, refer to
Chapter 10 of this document. When a center is subject to an individual
See Glossary of Terms in Chapter 1.
state's licensing standards which are more restrictive than the criteria listed
below, the state licensing standards shall govern. Locate building within
1/2 mile of a commuter rail, light rail or subway station or 1/4 mile of 2 or
more bus lines to encourage the use of alternative transportation, particularly
by employees. To reduce the environmental impacts of new construction,
do not develop buildings on portions of sites that meet any one of the
following criteria, as described by LEED Version 2.0:
PBS-140 - July 2003
5-1
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