Kindergarten Terenten by Feld72

Amy Frearson | 6 June 2011 7 comments

This Kindergarten in northern Italy by Austrian architects Feld72 is split into three separate house-shaped blocks connected by glazing.

The sloping site of Kindergarten Terenten allows for a lower ground floor that opens onto a playground, shared with the school opposite.

One section of glazing between the structures encloses a foyer for the kindergarten, which acts as a both a children's cloakroom and activity space.

Drawers and green foam blocks slide out from the sides of staircases.

All classrooms are located along the south elevation and multipurpose areas can be found on the north and west faces.

On the first floor a series of bridges interlink first floor rooms in the different buildings.

Photography is by Hertha Hurnaus.

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The following information has been provided by the architects:

Child daycare centre at Terenten – three building unit

Urbanistic context – integration in the built environment

The child daycare centre has been designed as a unique and individual building which nevertheless merges smoothly with the surrounding built environment. From an urbanistic perspective, the design concept is intended to give meaning and identity to this defined space – something special amid an everyday environment – without generating jarringly harsh contrasts. The new child daycare centre is located in an area with public facilities (education, sports).

dezeen_Kindergarden Terenten by feld72 2

Built on what used to be a miniature golf course, it forms an extension of Terenten’s built-up pedestrian zone. The centre will combine with the municipal offices, the sports hall and the neighbouring primary school to create an organic ensemble.

Siting of the building

The sloping terrain to the east of the primary school has been used to accommodate a lower ground floor. Thus, only half of the required building volume is visible to passers-by, and a new public space has been created between the school and the daycare centre. The eastern front of the school opens onto this space, which can be used during recesses and for official functions.

Entry to the daycare centre is from the level of the pedestrian zone. Here on the ground floor level the centre is divided into three “houses”, whose fronts have been shifted slightly out of alignment. Responding to the architectural context, the three units have varying heights and are linked to each other by means of glazed connectors that are flooded with daylight. All classrooms are south-facing, while multi-purpose activity areas have a northerly orientation towards the pedestrian zone or a westerly one on the lower ground floor.

The differentiated building units have been designed in relation to the nearby primary school and their dimensions take into account the perception and identity of the child. The differently shaped “houses” help children get their bearings and understand the spatial and social organization of the centre. The children feel at home in “their” respective houses.

Access and general layout

The centre is reached on foot from the pedestrian zone via a level entry area (+3.84m=1,223.8m). The entry level ground floor contains two classrooms, plus sanitary facilities and cloakrooms, the personnel area with two offices, and a multi-purpose area with a “parents' corner”.

The entry area is situated between two houses. The cloakroom area, which receives ample daylight and can also be used as an additional activity area, is laid out like a small passageway between the two houses. Its many openings connect it to the community life, and it functions as an extension of the public space inside the daycare centre.

A staircase and lift connect the entry level floor to the lower ground floor. This contains a room intended for physical activities or as a rest area, a second multi-purpose room, a teaching kitchen and a third classroom on the southern front. Although only the western and southern sections of the lower ground floor protrude from the sloping terrain, two skylights ensure that ample daylight reaches the cloakroom area and classroom.

Classrooms

We have aimed at creating differentiated spatial structures, rooms that provide as much potential as possible to stimulate children’s independent activities, orientation, communication, social interaction and aesthetic receptiveness. Rooms that can be flexibly used as stages for children’s activities, but also as quiet retreats.