Due to structural and fire safety deficiencies in the original building dating from 1972, Aschheim’s oldest childcare facility, located near Munich, has been provided with a sustainable replacement building designed to meet future needs. The entire construction project was carried out while the childcare facility remained fully operational.

To minimise the on-site construction period, the project is based on a modular construction system developed through a feasibility study for standalone childcare facilities in the Munich district.

The new building accommodates three nursery groups and one kindergarten group. In keeping with the remaining buildings of the so-called Mühlenbau complex, the building is designed entirely on a single ground-floor level, resulting in an exceptionally compact, double-loaded spatial layout.

The building volume consists of eight identical room modules arranged along each of its two longitudinal sides. The main rooms of the group areas are positioned along the outer façades and connected as open double modules, allowing additional daylight to enter from two sides through the building’s end façades.

An additional roof structure, assembled on site, breaks away from the standard heights of modular prefabrication. It creates generous ceiling heights in the group rooms while providing natural daylight and ventilation to the centrally located indoor play corridor.

The room modules are constructed using solid timber construction. Their untreated timber surfaces define the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the interior.

The central design concept is to ensure that the high degree of serial prefabrication does not rigidly dictate the architecture. Instead, the precision of the modular arrangement only becomes apparent upon closer inspection.