The Family Center

Purpose / Function

The family center serves as a gathering place in the evenings, but during the day the two sides of the once duplex serve as a school and care center for the elderly and disabled. The Teacher manages the school side while members of the community serve time as caretakers and working in the kitchen. In the evenings for the cost of kitchen labor and donated goods families can attend dinner, making it the closest thing to a restaurant in The Community. People gather to eat, watch movies, play games, craft, and just sit and talk.

Alterations

Each kitchen in the duplex shared a wall, so the wall between the two kitchens was demolished. A single large kitchen suited their needs better and made it easy to move from side to the other. One side of the duplex had two bedrooms and one bath, while the other had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The three bedroom side had already been customized to be wheel chair accessible, so it was chosen to house the elderly and disabled. Two residents stay full time there, while the others are brought by their families in the morning and return home at night, so the third bedroom was converted into storage.
On the adult side two good sized dinning room tables sit opposite the kitchen breakfast bar. One is for eating, while the other is for everything else. Cards, half finished knitting projects, board games and puzzles the surface. In the living room a couch is pushed up against one wall, and another separates the dinning area from the living room. They face a wall where a white sheet is hung, and the coffee table between them holds a projector. On the shelves underneath the coffee table are a laptop, DVR, blue ray player, xbox and bin overflowing with wires and controllers. 
On the children's side the living room and dining room space are shared, and littered with an eclectic assortment of different sized tables and chairs. Two walls have been painted with chalk board paint. Drawings, instructions, lessons and messages cover the walls from top to bottom. The wall between the two bedrooms was knocked out and the two rooms combined to form an overflowing play room. Shelves of toys, bins of blocks, wracks of costumes, play kitchens and houses, walkers and jumpers take up most of the space while carefully carved walk ways and play areas remain.

Type

School