For many of us, the month of September has always been “back to school” time. Our social media feeds are filled with photos of little ones going off to their first day of kindergarten, school-age kids facing the unknowns of middle school, and young adults launching new chapters at college.

“School” has come a long way since our St. Croix Falls office building was used to educate the children living in rural western Wisconsin. The space that now serves as the TAP Architecture Wisconsin office was formerly the Deer Lake School, which supported Balsam Lake Township for over 30 years. 

When built in 1930, this one-room schoolhouse was considered a prime example of modern architecture. It introduced features not typically found in rural schoolhouses of that time, such as adequate ventilation, indoor plumbing, and electricity. 

Today, schools are designed to accommodate much more than they did in the 1930s. And after the past few years, “school” has come to mean more than just the building the student goes to for education. As we now know, schooling can – and sometimes must – occur outside the school building. School is now defined by words like “remote,” “hybrid,” and “asynchronous.” Classrooms are virtual as well as physical. 

As students throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin settle into a new school year, now is a good time to assess your own home environment. Does your living environment meet your family’s needs? Is there a dedicated space for online school, should the need arise? Does your home strike the right balance of private spaces and age-appropriate supervision? 

Our TAP Architecture team is passionate about creating spaces that are not only visually stunning, but also (and more importantly) make a positive impact on the daily lives of our clients. Whether we are designing a whole house from scratch, or working with you to remodel your family’s live/work/learn spaces, we love any opportunity to bring both function and beauty to our clients’ modern lives. 

Does your home need a bit of back-to-school optimization? Contact us to learn more about how TAP Architecture could help make your home more aligned with your lifestyle.