丨美国俄克拉荷马丨MASS Design Group

Caddo Nation Child Care Center

Project Data

Full Team

Year 2023

Status In Progress

Size 12,250 sq. ft.

Location Hinton, Oklahoma, United States

Partners Caddo Nation

Collaborators Caddo Nation Economic Development Authority, Arrowood Kakinah Enterprise, Diak Architects, Wallace Design Collective, CEC Corporation, Telos Architectural Consulting, The Friday Group, Schultz Squared

Photographer MASS

Focus areas Education, Native Communities

Services Architecture, Film & Media

Project Team Celina Brownotter, Shawn Evans, Chris Hardy, James Kitchin, Taylor Klinkel, Joseph Kunkel, Drew McMillian, Mayrah Udvardi

Full Team

Project Team Celina Brownotter, Shawn Evans, Chris Hardy, James Kitchin, Taylor Klinkel, Joseph Kunkel, Drew McMillian, Mayrah Udvardi

The Caddo Nation Child Care Center provides culturally rooted child care that prioritizes whole health, cultural empowerment, and intergenerational connection.

As one of the first new construction projects for the Caddo Nation in decades, the center offers a vital space where youth from Caddo and surrounding Tribal Nations can learn, grow, and connect with their heritage.

MASS Design Group: Caddo Child Care Center

Rooted in community vision and cultural continuity, the Child Care Center supports children and families alike. The building is organized into three program-specific wings—Learn, Move, and Care—that frame a central courtyard. This layout reflects a family-first approach, providing accessible resources and a safe, nurturing environment where children and caregivers can thrive together. These wings include classrooms, a library, quiet reading nooks, indoor play areas, and space for rest and reflection. Wide interior hallways offer visual and physical connections to nature, reinforcing a sense of safety, familiarity, and belonging.

The center responds to years of unmet childcare needs across the Caddo Nation. A persistent 90-child waitlist, combined with limited economic opportunities, inadequate housing, and the generational impacts of genocidal policies, has led many Caddo families to leave the reservation—a pattern echoed across Indian Country.

In the face of systemic disinvestment, the Caddo Nation chose a bold path forward. The 12,250-square-foot facility includes classrooms, administrative offices, food preparation areas, and an aquatic center, serving 82 toddlers and young children. Set on a newly acquired 73-acre greenfield site—the grounds feature three playgrounds, parking, pedestrian pathways, native landscaping, and a central courtyard that connects to trails, forests, and a nearby pond.

Every aspect of the center uplifts Caddo heritage.

Its cedar shake façade echoes traditional thatched forms, while interior details draw inspiration from the Caddo and Great Plains vernacular through regionally specific materials, motifs, artists, and makers. Glued laminated timber structures and exposed wood are employed throughout the building, creating a warm and welcoming environment grounded in cultural expression.

Spaces are intentionally designed for intergenerational use—outdoor classrooms, a library, a pool and gym, and shared gathering areas support learning in the presence of family, elders, and community. Native plantings across the site also ensure the continuance of ethnobotanical teachings and lifeways—extending cultural knowledge to the next generation.

The design embodies the Tribe’s respect for the land and its commitment to climate-conscious stewardship.

Designed to achieve an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target of 26—over 70% below the regional average—the center meets Architecture 2030 Challenge standards through passive strategies, efficient MEP systems, rooftop and on-site rainwater harvesting, and solar panels that generate more than 90% of its energy needs. Child-scaled windows, lake-facing views, and a strong indoor-outdoor connection bring nature into every classroom, while native landscaping supports traditional teachings and ecological restoration.

The Child Care Center is the first project constructed by Arrowood Kakinah Enterprise, a newly formed construction company owned and operated by the Caddo Nation. By building capacity in-house, the Caddo Nation ensures that investment stays local—supporting job creation, skill development, and community wealth.

The center was shaped through a participatory design process led by MASS in close collaboration with Tribal leadership, language and culture bearers, child care staff, and children. Through workshops and storytelling, the design reflects the current and future aspirations of the Caddo people. MASS also produced a short film to share this journey and inspire other Tribal Nations to advance culturally rooted development in their own communities.

Slated to open in 2025, the Caddo Nation Child Care Center is more than a building—it is a declaration of resilience, cultural pride, and self-determination. Through vision, leadership, and collective action, the Caddo Nation is investing in its children, its culture, and its land—laying the foundation for a stronger, more sovereign future.