Designed by Bernardo Bader Architekten, this new kindergarten wing starts at the northern flight of an existing building and continues as a single-storey structure. Offering a generous sense of arrival, low-lying windows in the access areas create an atmospheric relation between indoors and outdoors.
New group areas are situated along a spacious, playful corridor. At the beginning of this sequence of rooms, the dining room, together with the administration rooms, is directed towards the newly created courtyard-like outdoor area, thus forming the social centre of the kindergarten.
Prefabricated external wall elements allowed for a rapid construction period with visible beams of local wood lending a robust, studio-like character to interior spaces.
Each designated group within the building has a directly accessible individual playroom outside, at the transition to the garden. An additional living room and playroom is created using a horizontal awning.
While the corridors and side zones are based on the existing room height, the significant elevation of the group and outside rooms creates a new spatial quality. Without trying to ingratiate itself with the existing structure, the project takes over defining architectural elements and develops them further in a playful way.
