Diner

Developmental Learning Center-Warren serves students with autism and is designed to function as a "real-world" community, facilitating a seamless transition from learning environment to life beyond school.


Through the atrium, at the beginning of "Main Street"- a sky-lit, central corridor that is heart and soul of the facility - is the Towne Deli Diner. From the Diner, students travel down Main Street and experience what is typically common in traditional, everyday life; storefronts-complete with canopies-that contain a working bank, supermarket, and home improvement center. Here, students receive hands-on training for everyday life skills. The Diner is one of the most distinctive features encountered on Main Street. Instead of a traditional cafeteria, USA architects designed a 1950's-style diner under the main atrium. This simulated restaurant serves as a "learning lab" to develop student's social and restaurant skills. The Diner is complete with checkerboard finishes, neon signage, bar stools and 1950s-style booths.


Occupants are a sensory-sensitive population; therefore careful consideration was given to placement of natural/artificial light sources, acoustic control and thermal comfort, pleasing exterior and interior colors, as well as tactile surfaces and indirect lighting fixtures. The design of the facility itself was strategic-a one-story facility that is simple and easy to navigate. Spaces have logical adjacencies and flexible configurations to minimize travel. Way-finding elements were placed throughout the facility to visually guide children to their proper place.


The building includes environmentally conscious features, i.e. natural light; specified low-emitting building materials and low VOC paints, recycled products for interior finishes, energy efficient light fixtures, and water efficient plumbing fixtures. A geothermal system which allows the extreme temperatures of a building to work with the earth's constant temperature eliminated the need for boilers, chillers, and cooling towers.