Kansas State School for the Blind

As some may know, Kansas has unpredictable weather. We can go from sunny skies to pouring rain in a matter of minutes. Now, imagine children running from building to building to attend class, and being visually impaired. It left a lot of safety concerns for the staff and students.

The school needed to find a way to keep everyone out of the elements. The idea was to create a foyer that connected all three buildings, the Edlund Dormitory, The Dining Hall, and the Johnson Education Building, permitting students and faculty passage between the two in a temperature-controlled environment.

This special project will not only provide a way for everyone to pass through, but the foyer will also have a coffee bar and seating area available for use during school functions!

As with any project, there has been a few hurdles. Equipment and material delays, labor shortages, and the pandemic, to name a few. Yet has maintained progress and is now complete. This project has also presented some unique challenges to the architectural design process considering its focus on vision impaired students and faculty.

The Entry Foyer was completed in September 2023. Seeing the project come together as planned is a rewarding for the designers as it is for the students and staff that use it.