Photo: Adrian Schulz

The Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) is both a child care center and a research center to support the many UC Berkeley programs focused on early child development. The two-story structure provides childcare for 18 infants, 24 toddlers, and 32 preschoolers.

ECEC earned a LEED® silver certification through specific environmentally sound design principles and materials. A key design principle for the ECEC is a "fresh-air school" approach, where children spend much of their day outdoors. Indoor and outdoor activity areas were designed to match the intellectual, physical and socialization skills and needs of each age group.

The ECEC respects the original residential character of South Berkeley's surviving older buildings, through the use of familiar residential forms, details and materials to create a 'homelike' environment.