Bright Stars Daycare

Our approach focused heavily on creating a design sensitive to its context. Like many cities, Issaquah is evolving but dedicated to preserving the traditional downtown core and historic character and charm it’s long been known for.

On Bright Stars’ site, we engaged in a comprehensive process to work within the city’s compliance requirements and Olde Town’s design review and standards to bring about a project that seeks to be a good neighbor, balancing the sustainability, healthy living, and programmatic goals of the organization with the scale, materialities, and character expressions of the existing neighborhood.

The site is situated between multifamily and single-family residences where the commercial core transitions into a more residential area. There are a variety of 1- to 2-story buildings within the site’s immediate vicinity. The new building’s volume expresses our approach to massing, creating a design that celebrates the intrinsic character of Olde Town, blends proportionally into the urban fabric, and preserves the area’s existing architectural and landscape fabric.

At the street level, frontage updates and clear wayfinding improve the pedestrian experience, offering safe foot traffic to and around the building while preparing for future planned improvements. These updates are augmented by an intentional planting palette of native and drought tolerant plants designed to double as spaces where children of all ages can explore and play.

Close collaboration between Board & Vellum, the owner, the City of Issaquah, and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) helped the project achieve programming and licensing requirements while focusing on key sustainability and healthy living goals.

Bright Stars’ owners were steadfast in their desire to include a space where teachers could have a place of respite. This took the shape of a green roof designed as a place to step away, rest, and reflect throughout the day. Rather than a lounge or roof deck, the green roof is designed to be an immersive space meant for observation and reflection. The green roof has additional healthy-living benefits, enhancing stormwater management, creating biodiversity, and reducing the urban heat island effect.

Inside and out, the building is intended to serve as a living laboratory — an interactive space where children can learn through action and observation. Throughout, care was taken to create equitable spaces that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities, with special care paid to the requirements for working with younger children.

A sense of arrival inside the building helps kids feel safe and welcome, while creating a clear point of transition for pickups and drop-offs. The building’s interior is laid out like a butterfly, with a central corridor and wings of classrooms on either side. The layout provides visibility for parents and teachers, while allowing children to navigate within the corridors easily, building confidence, routine, and a sense of autonomy.

The classroom layout mirrors this open approach, with flexible spaces to accommodate a variety of activities, as well as opportunities to build routine and set expectations.

High-efficiency mechanical systems work to support indoor air quality and comfort, lower operational costs, and reduce the carbon footprint of the system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Construction for the new Bright Stars facility broke ground in February 2025, marked with a deeply personal ceremony honoring the owners and their community. We look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.

This project is under construction.