Shelter
Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children creates a learning environment shaped around the way its students listen, communicate, and experience the world. The 57,000-square-foot campus brings together elementary and early childhood education, parent-infant services, therapy, and administration within a setting designed to support children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
As a specialized consultant to the project team, Mackey Mitchell contributed expertise in deaf education and learning environments, helping the team better understand the acoustic, sensory, and communication needs of Sunshine Cottage students and educators.
Shape
Mackey Mitchell’s consulting role drew on extensive experience with deaf education, classroom acoustics, and sensory-responsive learning environments. The team provided guidance related to reducing background noise, supporting speech intelligibility, and creating conditions that help students maintain attention and engage more fully in learning.
This expertise informed recommendations related to acoustics, mechanical noise, materials, spatial relationships, and the broader sensory environment. Working collaboratively with the project team, Mackey Mitchell helped translate the specialized needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing learners into considerations that could guide the design process.
Inspire
Sunshine Cottage demonstrates the value of bringing specialized knowledge into the design process early and thoughtfully. Mackey Mitchell’s contribution built on lessons learned through years of working with schools serving deaf and hard-of-hearing students, offering research, experience, and practical insight to support the project team.
The completed campus reflects a thoughtful approach to acoustics, daylight, nature, communication, and learning. It also shows how collaboration between designers, educators, and specialized consultants can help create environments that respond more closely to the people they serve.
