Working successfully with children and youth who have severe physical and developmental disabilities can require a holistic approach of varied therapies based on 24-hour residential care. Few facilities exist, however, that can provide such comprehensive services. The Anne Carlsen Center in Jamestown, ND, is one such resource.

Now moved into its new, custom-designed, 110,000-sq.-ft. home, the organization is even better equipped to address its clients’ needs. The building’s exterior uses architectural metal wall cladding systems in a colorful palette to create a vibrant welcome for patients and their families.

To understand the breadth of services the Anne Carlsen Center offers, it’s helpful to know a bit about its namesake. Anne Carlsen, a leading educator for children with a broad range of disabilities, knew something of the challenges her students faced. She was born Nov. 4, 1915, with no forearms or functioning lower legs. Ahead of many in their generation, Carlsen’s parents ensured Anne received the same education as her siblings. Surgery, prosthetics and therapy eventually enabled her to walk, and she went on to earn a Ph.D., focused on the needs of disabled students.

As she progressed academically, Carlsen became principal of what then was known as the Crippled Children’s School, in Jamestown. Her prominence as a disabilities advocate gained the school a national reputation. It was renamed in her honor in 1980.

When the school’s replacement facility opened, it expanded therapeutic offerings and incorporated residential support for 34 individuals, along with outpatient services.

The exterior of the facility features a contemporary, rectilinear design. Though cladding is entirely comprised of metal wall panels, the material is used creatively, with corrugated texture and pops of neon-bright colors around ribboned curtainwall windows. In a courtyard play area, the combination of simple geometric forms and isolated color blocks recalls the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragan, which must add some much-appreciated warmth during a North Dakota winter.

JLG Architects, working with installing contractor MG McGrath, called on Petersen to supply the PAC-CLAD metal cladding. Designers opted for several profiles, including both 1/2-in. and 7/8-in. Corrugated panels, which are perforated to create a screen at the entrance, plus simple metal sheet. The primary panel finish is Cool Color Bone White, but a wide variety of custom accent colors – including Champagne, Lemon Twist, Center Stage Green, Gulfstream and Purple – help ensure the center makes a strong visual impact, even on the grayest or snowiest of Northern Prairie winter days.