Kindergarten | Henner Herrmanns

The curved building for a new Daycare Center is to be erected as a wooden structure with a formwork of vertical wood panels. The intention of the architects is that the new  building is self-consciously integrated into the urban environment.

Especially when building for children, other aspects than usual have to be incorporated into the design process. Who says that a building must inevitably always be designed with the rigid cartesian axes (height / width / depth) as a crate. This is the dynamic structure of the organic building with its curved ground plan for breaking open the rigid geometric shapes.

At the ground plan, much emphasis was placed on clarity and generosity, and at the same time on compactness. The group spaces were arranged in three function blocks.

Function block 1: Crib area
This includes group 1 and group 2, each with its own group room, as well as a common sanitary area and sleeping area.
Function block 2: Mixed age group
Groups 3 and 4, each with its own group room and connected to it, each have their own resting space. Both groups share a common sanitary area.
Function block 3: Open group
This function block is organized as well as function block 2.
A common bedroom is arranged between the functional blocks 2 and 3.

These function blocks are arranged additively next to each other to the outer play surface in the convex part of the building. In order not to pollute the group rooms, there are two locks, which allow access to the outside play area.

In the concave part is the entrance with winds (big enough for parking the baby carriages) and the foyer. On the one side of the entrance are the rooms for the nursery management and the staff and the adjacent adjoining rooms. On the other side of the entrance are the dining-room with kitchen and adjacent adjoining rooms.

The heart of the building is a generous multifunctional area, which is supplied with daylight by super-lights. This space can be used as a generous, protected playing area. Since children nowadays spend their time in the day-care center not only on an hourly basis, but also throughout the day, a free area for movement, which can be used even in bad weather is really essential. Children with their overbearing urge to move should not be locked up all day in their group room. The multi-purpose room is also integrated in this lively ambience.

All the group and stay rooms have generous glazing to the outside and also to the hallway windows to allow an interaction across the room boundaries. The daylight-flooded rooms offer the children and the staff a pleasant learning, play and work atmosphere.

In addition to the creation of an optimal playing and learning environment, consideration is also given to the safety and health of employees. Apart from efficient ventilation, this also includes special measures for noise protection. The air supply is to be carried out by means of a ventilation system which, in combination with a floor heating system, ensures an optimum and air-free room climate.