Big River Glass is proud to have played a role in one of Louisiana’s most celebrated construction and design projects in recent years – the Truman Early Childhood Education Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Completed in 2023 in partnership with Lemoine Company as Construction Manager at Risk, this 90,000-square-foot campus serves 480 pre-kindergarten students in the Lafayette Parish School System and stands as a landmark achievement in educational facility design. The project earned a prestigious 2024 ABC New Orleans Excellence in Construction Award – recognizing the innovation, craftsmanship, and collaborative effort that brought this extraordinary campus to life.
Big River Glass completed the full scope of storefront and door installations throughout the facility – including several technically demanding radius storefront systems that required exceptional creativity, precision, and attention to detail to execute properly on a building of this unique design.
A Campus Unlike Any Other
The Truman Early Childhood Education Center is built around a racetrack-inspired sunburst design – a layout centered around an interior courtyard with centralized playgrounds that serve as the heart of the campus. The building is divided into six themed learning communities – Forest, Sky, Meadow, Lake, and Stream – each with its own biophilic theme, color palette, and mascot.
Centralized playgrounds connect indoor educational spaces while dining centers that look out over outdoor play areas provide an arena for students to build critical social skills. Each learning community features expansive discovery zones, distributed media resources, sensory play areas, de-escalation spaces, and collaborative planning areas for educators. The facility employs a decentralized dining approach, placing dining areas adjacent to the learning pods to minimize student transition periods and maximize learning time.
BRG’s Scope – Storefront, Doors, and Radius Systems
Big River Glass supplied and installed the complete storefront and door package throughout the Truman campus – working within the constraints of a highly creative, curved architectural design that demanded more than standard installation techniques.
Several areas of the project required radius storefront systems – curved glass and framing installations that follow the arc of the building’s distinctive sunburst layout. These radius systems are among the most technically challenging installations in commercial glazing, requiring precise fabrication, careful planning, and a skilled crew capable of executing curved work at a high level. BRG’s team delivered on every radius system with the craftsmanship and precision the project required.
The storefront and door systems throughout the Truman campus are designed to maximize natural light in every learning environment – supporting the biophilic design philosophy that guided the entire project and creating warm, bright, inviting spaces for hundreds of Lafayette’s youngest students.
A Celebrated Partnership with Lemoine Company
Big River Glass has a long-standing working relationship with Lemoine Company – one of Louisiana’s most respected general contracting and construction management firms. The Truman Early Childhood Education Center project is one of the finest examples of what that partnership produces when both teams bring their best to an extraordinary project.
The Truman Early Childhood Education Center received the 2024 ABC New Orleans Excellence in Construction Award for its innovative sunburst design, which maximizes functionality by creating dedicated clusters for 480 pre-kindergarten students.
An Exceptional Design Team
The Truman campus was brought to life by two outstanding architecture firms. DLR Group served as the Design Architect, and Grace Hebert Curtis served as the Architect of Record. Together with Lemoine Company and Big River Glass, they created a campus that is as functional as it is beautiful – and a source of pride for the entire Lafayette community.
Project Highlights
- Full storefront and door installation at Truman Early Childhood Education Center, Lafayette, LA
- Multiple radius storefront systems requiring advanced fabrication and precision installation
- Completed in partnership with Lemoine Company as Construction Manager at Risk
- Design Architect: DLR Group | Architect of Record: Grace Hebert Curtis
- Owner: Lafayette Parish School System
- 90,000 SF campus serving 480 pre-kindergarten students
- 2024 ABC New Orleans Excellence in Construction Award recipient
- Completed 2023 – Lafayette, Louisiana
Shoutout to Lafayette, Louisiana and the entire Truman Early Childhood Education Center team – Lemoine Company, DLR Group, Grace Hebert Curtis, and the Lafayette Parish School System!
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