Not a residential facility with nice features added on. Every square foot is engineered to lower stress and prevent sensory overload.
Rootstead is modeled on L'Éveil du Scarabée (The Beetle Awakening), the therapeutic village designed by architect Emmanuel Negroni and opened in 2014 in Champcevrais, France. It was named by the Winston Churchill Foundation of Australia as one of the five most architecturally significant autism buildings in the world, and received the ArchiDesignClub Award for Health Institutions in 2015.
"The crises of autistic people always have a source. That source is often in the immediate environment. We must create a habitat that helps reduce tension and stress." Emmanuel Negroni, architect of L'Éveil du Scarabée
We have studied this model and are adapting it for the Florida context: its climate, its regulations, and its community.
Sound-absorbing surfaces, soft flooring, no fluorescent lighting. No hum, flicker, or echo.
The campus flows from private to public, with pictogram wayfinding and no confusing intersections.
Every bedroom has a retreat corner and a private garden patio, accessible day or night.
Living, eating, working, and resting zones are separated, so only necessary stimulation is present.
Covered walkways and gentle thresholds between indoors and outdoors. No abrupt changes.
Four energy zones across campus, navigated according to daily need and emotional state.
Rounded edges, neutral flooring, outdoor spaces gently enclosed without feeling confining.
Flicker-free LED, diffused daylight, skylights over a central plaza that warm to amber at dusk.
The heart of the campus: a large covered space organized around a living Florida-native tree, where residents meet naturally and choose their own level of engagement.
Small residential homes of four private rooms each, with curved volumes, natural matte materials, and a private garden patio off every bedroom.
A destination restaurant open to the public, acoustically isolated, and staffed by residents under a professional chef, building real culinary and hospitality skills.
Production workshops for jams, teas, honey, and crafts, a greenhouse and farm, and animal-assisted activities, all designed to the same sensory standards.
The campus targets LEED Silver certification and exceeds ADA requirements throughout, treating accessibility as a founding principle rather than a checklist.
The white paper sets out the need, the model, the campus design, and the path ahead in detail.
Read the white paper