The Helen R. Walton Children's Enrichment Center (HWCEC) and Early Childhood Initiatives Center (ECIC)

Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center (HWCEC-ECIC) is a model early childhood center and professional training facility dedicated to healthier learning and development during the first few years of children’s lives.

Shortly after LTL Architects was awarded the project to design this new building in 2016 in Bentonville Arkansas, Parsons Healthy Materials Lab began working with LTL Architects to identify strategies to ensure the installation of the healthiest materials possible and to educate all members of the design, construction, and operations teams on strategies specific to improving children’s health.

This new home for the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center and HighQ opened in June 2019 and embodies an ambitious vision for nurturing and raising children. As one of the healthiest early childhood education centers in the United States, the project sets a national model for what an early childhood center can and should be. The Center’s architectural design integrates interior and exterior space, providing direct access for all 21 classrooms to outdoor learning space and ample playscapes. The house-shaped form at the entrance extends into the classroom as a shaped ceiling clad in wool, creating a room nested within a room. On the exterior façade, cedar wood slats repeat this house-shape, turning the perimeter of the playscapes into a recognizable street of homes. Throughout the facility, healthy materials are used to provide a safe and supportive environment for growing children to play, learn and thrive.

Download the Healthy Strategy Guides, produced in 2016 for this project in collaboration with LTL architects, using the links under the “Downloads” heading.