Brightly coloured volumes and angular forms characterise this nursery in the Czech Republic, which was designed by Czech studio Architektura to echo childhood playfulness.
Located in Říčany, a town in the Prague-East District, the Větrník Kindergarten features a gym, garden, classrooms and a playground, spread across coloured blocks that branch out from a central white structure.
Its design is informed by childhood, with an arrangement that aims to evoke playfulness and spontaneity, and forms that emulate dens and tents.
"The jagged floor plan draws upon the absence of geometry in the child's mind, a different order, playfulness, and spontaneity," Architektura director David Kraus told Dezeen.
Each of Větrník Kindergarten's brightly coloured blocks holds a classroom, while the rest of its facilities are contained within the main white cube.
"The children themselves were essential – their games, movement, vision, and scale," added Kraus. "Children's spontaneity, disorganisation, unpredictability, purity, curiosity, and optimism impacted the design."
Větrník Kindergarten's street-facing facade has an entrance that is intended to resemble a spaceship, alongside a living wall that Architektura hopes will grow and thicken to cover the entire elevation.
Through the entrance, visitors and students are welcomed by an atrium in the white central structure. Offices and other practical facilities are also included in this central block.
A large net for play spans the entrance atrium, supported by tree trunks. The area underneath this serves as a community space that can accommodate music, theatre, and exhibitions.
Branching out from the atrium are the individual classrooms, which are connected to the garden and topped with square-shaped skylights.
Větrník Kindergarten's classrooms also feature triangular windows, some of which are bordered by coloured frames. Angled columns and brightly coloured floors allow the playful design of the building to continue inside.
Outside, a playground with climbing frames and other equipment is designed to mimic an amusement park. While it is currently under construction, the studio hopes it will become a nature-filled space that will encourage imaginative play.
"The effort was to design a living area, full of entertainment attractions, climbing frames, game elements, a kind of landscape of children's fantasy, maybe even an amusement park," said Kraus.
"We wanted to build an object for children that is not an institution, it is playful and will enable the development of creativity."
Other nurseries recently featured on Dezeen include a nursery and forest school made from natural materials and a Paris nursery made from adobe.
The photography is by Filip Šlapal.