“Children, like budding lilacs, should be placed in the tropical warmth of a greenhouse to be nurtured through the cold winter months.”- Mark Dudekk
View into the central courtyard
The kindergarten design is based on a grid organization, that the children, with the plants, can use as a platform to grow. Series of layered spaces, from public, to semi-public, passing by a greenhouse and finally a teaching space are created following this grid.
A flexible open plan, with an unobstructed threshold between indoor, semi-indoor and outdoor space, invites the children to conduct their own experiments and learn through experiences. To enhance social interactions, all the spaces connect to a shared central courtyard.
Site analysis, strategy and application of the concept
The first step of the project was conducting the workshop, "The school of my dreams", with primary school children, to envisage the sort of school they would like to grow up in. Through drawing and modelling, key ideas and concepts were expressed and could then be incorporated into the kindergarten's design.
Children's drawings
Section drawing through the school, facing North
The teaching space is kept as an open plan to allow teachers and activities to dictate the scale and format of the space most suitable to their teaching-related needs – through thick felt curtains, modular furniture and natural lighting, a different atmosphere and places are created to suit the changing needs of the teachers, activities, age groups and class sizes. A single space can cater for napping, soft play, reading, ]individual and group teaching, or even wet play.
The junction between the two wings caters for cooking and dining, as a meeting point for the different age groups.
Plan of the kindergarten in context
Various plant families are planted in relation to the teaching spaces – for example, herbs, fruits and vegetables are planted in the greenhouse space right in front of the cooking and dining space, to allow teachers and children to bring in fresh organic food – this further enhances the overall ethos of teaching through doing and focusing on a green and environmentally connected way of living.
Plant families that are planted in the greenhouse vary from perennials, grasses, bulbs, herbs, vegetables and climbers.
Section drawing through the school, facing West
Rooftop garden view
Internal view of the greenhouse
