01 / Provide the foundationProvide a home.
Help provide a home for a River Tech school, Tink Town, or both. We are looking for practical space in North Idaho that can be approved for the activities it will actually host.
How this could work
A zoning designation and an occupancy approval answer different questions. Planning must allow the use; building and fire officials must approve the building for it. An office, retail unit or church building is not automatically ready for a school or a café and workshop.
The space to make it work.
Three ways to give the vision a home. The Tink Town and combined-site figures describe the fuller facility—not the space needed to launch. These working estimates include indoor support space and circulation; parking and outdoor recreation space are additional.
See how Tink Town can start small and grow through three phases ↗
| Location | Compact planning range | Preferred search range |
|---|
| River Tech school | 7,000 sq ft | 8,000–9,000 sq ft |
|---|
| Tink Town · fuller hub | 6,500–7,000 sq ft | 7,500–9,000 sq ft |
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| School + Tink Town | 12,000–13,000 sq ft | 14,000–17,000 sq ft |
|---|
School: about 90 students — room-by-room plan
Six teaching rooms averaging 15 students, with staggered lunches and no dedicated gym or auditorium.
| Space | Sq ft |
|---|
| Six classrooms, about 500 sq ft each | 3,000 |
|---|
| Lunch / multipurpose room | 900 |
|---|
| Indoor recess / student hangout | 600 |
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| Principal, staff and board / conference room | 600 |
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| Storage and utility space | 400 |
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| Restrooms | 300 |
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| Hallways, walls and circulation | 1,500 |
|---|
| Illustrative total | 7,300 |
|---|
Tink Town: café, shop and production — room-by-room plan
A compact operation with a small performance stage, modest café kitchen and a selected mix of fabrication and printing equipment.
| Space | Sq ft |
|---|
| Café seating and small stage | 1,000 |
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| Kitchen, counter and preparation | 500 |
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| Robotics, components and maker-supply retail | 500 |
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| Fabrication, marketing printing and 3D printing combined | 1,500 |
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| Design workstations and collaborative work | 800 |
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| Materials, receiving and order storage | 700 |
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| Restrooms and utility space | 400 |
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| Additional circulation and walls | 1,300 |
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| Illustrative total | 6,700 |
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Combined location — how sharing saves space
The two illustrative plans total 14,000 sq ft. Sharing about 1,500 sq ft through a kitchen, lunch / performance room, conference space and selected support areas gives a compact example of 12,500 sq ft. Around 14,000 sq ft is our starting search target, with more room where the layout or growth plans call for it.
Shared rooms need compatible schedules. The school needs controlled access, and fabrication must be separated from students, customers and food service.
These are planning estimates, not approved building plans or legal occupancy limits. The 1,500 sq ft production allowance must be checked against selected equipment, safe working clearances and material flow. Final capacity depends on the property layout and required approvals.
For a River Tech school
Our planning target is an average of about 15 students per teaching classroom. Some rooms may accommodate 12 if larger rooms keep the school-wide classroom average near 15. This is our operating requirement, not a legal occupancy formula.
- School use must be permitted by the zoning district or approved through the required land-use process. There is not one universal “school zoning” label.
- Classroom layouts must fit students, a teacher, furniture and clear circulation. The building official determines permitted occupant loads; room dimensions and exits matter.
- Confirm educational occupancy approval, including any change-of-use permit and certificate of occupancy required for the premises.
- Check compliant exits and travel paths, emergency lighting and signs, alarms, extinguishers, fire separations, and sprinklers where required.
- Check accessible entry and circulation, suitable toilets, ventilation, lighting, and safe arrival and pickup arrangements.
For Tink Town
Tink Town can begin without a dedicated venue, then grow into a small public hub and eventually a fuller café and workshop. The requirements below describe that fuller facility, not a day-one lease. See the three-phase launch plan on the Tink Town page.
- Front of house: café counter and seating, a place to discuss projects and display finished work, and flexible space for workshops and events.
- Work areas: desks for design, AI and marketing work; a clean print-production and finishing area; and a dedicated 3D-printing area.
- Fabrication: enclosed space for laser cutters, a waterjet, CNC routers and mills, metal bending, assembly and finishing. Separate noise, dust, fumes and production traffic from customers and food.
- Support space: sheet and stock storage, paper and consumables, loading and receiving, finished orders, toilets and staff facilities.
- Our working allocation is 1,500 sq ft for fabrication, marketing printing and 3D printing combined, with materials storage allocated separately. Confirm the selected machines and their operating and service clearances against a floor plan.
- Assess electrical service, floor loading, delivery-door sizes, ventilation and dust extraction, compressed air, and water and drainage requirements for the chosen equipment.
- Confirm permission for the full mix of café, retail, classes, events and fabrication. A commercial or flex-industrial property with an approved public-facing area may be a better fit than a conventional storefront.
- In Post Falls, Community Commercial Services is a starting point to investigate for restaurant, retail and education uses; the actual fabrication processes need a separate use determination.
- Obtain the applicable building, fire and food-service approvals. A café requires health review; cooking and fabrication equipment may require dedicated ventilation or fire protection.
Fire protection: check the building, not just its listing
Sprinkler requirements depend on the occupancy, fire area, occupant load, floor level and local amendments. The 2018 model code includes Group E school triggers such as a fire area over 12,000 square feet and certain spaces below the exit-discharge level. Mixed café, event and workshop uses can trigger different requirements. A small school is not automatically exempt. Obtain a property-specific determination from the building and fire officials.