The Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Development Center has yet to be built on the UNLV campus, but already it is winning awards for its unique architectural design.

The center - which when completed will serve the young children of UNLV students and faculty and will provide an advanced training classroom for teacher-education students in UNLV's College of Education - recently received an Honor Award in the Unbuilt Category from the Nevada Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

"The center was one of only three unbuilt projects that received this honor out of a total of 55 projects submitted," said Eric Strain, the project's architect and owner of the local firm, Eric Strain Architect. Strain also won the AIA national jury competition for this project.

"The project is designed around the idea of an academic village with each classroom structure opening out onto a central park," Strain said. "Private gardens located just outside of each of the classrooms will extend the learning environment into the outdoors."

Strain said the AIA Jury praised the intimacy of the structure's design, the incorporation of natural daylight into the classrooms, and the overall composition of materials and massings.

Gene Hall, dean of UNLV's College of Education, said the soon-to-be-built facility will provide the college's teacher-education students with an opportunity to observe and practice the teaching concepts they've learned in their professional preparation program.

"The Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Development Center will be a one-of-a-kind facility that will set trends in the preschool industry and serve as a national model for quality preschool services," Hall said.

Construction on the new center is set to begin in early 2002. It will be located adjacent to the Bennett Professional Development Building on the UNLV campus.

For more information about the award or the center, call the College of Education at 895-3375.