Phoenix-based LGE Design Build finished a $600,000, 4,758-square-foot addition, which includes five special-needs classrooms, to Arizona’s Austin Centers for Exceptional Students‘ (The ACES) Tempe campus.
The building includes a sensory room with a ball pit, sand table, spinning swing and other elements designed to improve sensory integration for the students.
ACES provides special education services to children with autism and other emotional and intellectual abilities. This is the second facility ACES and LGE Design Build worked on together, with LGE having worked on the ACES’ west Phoenix location recently.
Students on the Tempe campus will have access to specialized technology, including computers, iPads, interactive whiteboards and other communicative devices to help nonverbal students work with faculty and peers.
“We loved working with LGE, and after partnering on our west Phoenix location, they were our first choice to do the expansion,” said Francie Austin, ACES’ president. “After a lot of hard work on all sides, it’s finally time to let the students enjoy these new classrooms.”
Having worked together already, the LGE team was aware of how The ACES’ structural and student needs differed from those of other schools.
“We’re immensely proud to be a part of this project, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves in the process.” said LGE Design Build President and CEO David Sellers. “We’re ready to help with anything that allows The ACES to continue to serve the state’s special-needs community effectively, as it’s done for decades.”
