The corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Fulton Street in Brooklyns Clinton Hill neighborhood is a lively one. Black-and-white stencils of children by the street artist JR line the facade of Language and Laughter Studio (LLS), a French immersion preschool and language center helmed by Pascale Setbon, a progressive early-childhood education visionary. The school was founded by Setbon in 2006 but moved into its new purpose-built home designed by ONeill McVoy Architects in early 2025. We dont follow one single model, Setbon told AN one January morning at LLS. She was accompanied by her dog, Ima, as kids swaddled in winter clothing came indoors from the cold. Whats most important to us are values, Setbon added. What kind of citizen are they going to be when they grow up? How do you connect to language? How do you connect to objects? To nature? How do you connect to others and yourself?Buildings by Luis Barragn and Le Corbusier were a starting point for the design of the school. (Nicholas Calcott)During COVID-19, before the new location of LLS was built, Setbon and her staff relocated the school to Fort Greene Park, where they built an outdoor classroom reminiscent of forest schools in Switzerland and the Netherlands. The new location can be understood as an extension of the Fort Greene Park Nature School at LLS and its pedagogy, albeit an interiorized version. Beth ONeill and Chris McVoy, founders of ONeill McVoy Architects, took Setbons interest in nature, art, and psychology and ran with it in their design for LLS. A Painterly ApproachLanguage and Laughter Studio has two entrances; it occupies a 3,300-square-foot storefront space on the ground floor of a new multifamily residential building. The primary corner entry leads students and staffers into a well-lit, cozy lobby furnished with beautiful rugs and art books. The imagination is immediately activated thanks to a prominent mural of forestry by Olivia Angelozzi, a New Yorkbased illustrator. The mural occupies a total of six walls within the school; its painterly aesthetic contrasts nicely with the photo collages by JRthe prolific French street artist whom Setbon invited to make bespoke artwork for LLSand the polychromatic interior partitions ideated by ONeill and McVoy.Artwork at the school includes a mural of forestry by Olivia Angelozzi, a New Yorkbased illustrator. (Nicholas Calcott)McVoy was a senior partner at Steven Holl Architects for decades before cofounding his firm, so he knows a thing or two about natural light. He was the project lead for the Art Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, which has earned widespread acclaim for its use of skylights and clerestory windows, among other award-winning projects. The curved, interior partition walls that delineate classrooms within LLS are as thoughtful and beautiful as the Art Bloch Building, albeit in a much smaller space. The colors of the partitions change as the day transpires, animated by silhouettes of teachers and giddy childrenunless, of course, its nap time. The partitions, from the Italian manufacturer Bencore, were bent at precise angles. (Nicholas Calcott)The design process started when Setbon handed ONeill and McVoy a mood board of aesthetic aspirationsincluding buildings by Luis Barragn and Le Corbusierbut with a compressed timeline: They had just 11 months to design and finish the space. Setbon, ONeill, and McVoy worked intensively together with Rockhill Construction, the builder, going back and forth between design meetings and charettes. The architects studied the teachings of psychologist Jean Piaget, who researched how children perceive space. Children dont come out understanding orthogonal architecture, McVoy said. Having surfaces continue creates continuity, light versus dark, openness versus enclosure. Color is energy.The walls are made of tiny straws from 100 percent recycled acrylic. (Nicholas Calcott)Where Architecture Meets PedagogySpaces by Le Corbusier and Barragn may have been the starting point, but the architects said they sought something different. If Barragn painted planes, ONeill and McVoy wanted the color to come from within the walls of Language and Laughter Studio. To that end, they opted for luminous panels shaded in violet, yellowish gold, olive green, blue satin, and lilac, a set inspired by Barragns work. They found 100 percent recycled acrylic, which helped them achieve the effect they wanted: Thousands of tiny straws make up the walls, creating an almost granular, stained-glass effect. The partitions, from the Italian manufacturer Bencore, were bent at precise angles specified by the architect and then shipped overseas.Cork floors, made of 100 percent rapidly renewable bark, give the ground plane an earthy feel. (Nicholas Calcott)The circulation areas floor is lacquered in powder blue; the team refers to it as the river. In the classrooms, cork floors, made of 100 percent rapidly renewable bark, give the ground plane an earthy feel. The ceilings are lined with soft, sky-blue acoustic panels; the nebulous materials are meant to emulate clouds. Much of the buildings ductwork and structure were left exposed so children could see how the building they occupy stands up. Convex curves shape the garden in the back, where offices, the staff kitchen, and restrooms are sited. Faculty at LLS take environmental justice and antiracism seriously. The issues have become even more pronounced since COVID-19, now that young children grow up with screens in their hands. Setbon, ONeill, and McVoy paid close attention to sensory materials to help children connect with the real world and look inward at such a formative stage in their lives.Floorplan (Courtesy ONeill McVoy)The LLS was a beautiful commission for an architect, McVoy said. Pascale asked us to create a new kind of school that embodies [its] philosophy and helps enable its goals. There are lots of ideas about what a school should be and about what education should be. All of this is very dependent on the environment. Pascale recognizes the importance of architecture and the environment in education and pedagogy.