Located in Hohenschöhenhausen, this daycare centre which now offers space for up to 358 kids, with an outdoor area of 6600 square meters, is the biggest one in Berlin. The original building which fit 250 children was extended by Baukind with a new two-story modular building, offering space for another 108 children. The two-story extension was realized as a modular building. Modular construction is very current and allows for a fast and cost-saving construction method with a lot of design freedom. The warm gray broom finish plaster frames the colored windows and creates a calm overall appearance.
Client — Kinder und Jugend der Volkssolidarität Berlin gGmbH
Size — 358 children
Outdoor space — 6600 sqm
Services — LPH 1-8, funding application
Completion — 10/2021
Location — Berlin
The square in front of the main entrance of the new extension welcomes parents and children to stay and meet one another, before entering or leaving the kindergarden. Concrete cubes at different heights, partially covered with larch lathing, invite the children to play and serve as benches for the parents. A large window in the facade facing the front square allows for a connection on contact between the inside and outside. With a window ledge at children’s height, it allows for insights and outlooks during the arrival and departure times of the kids.
Inside, the children are greeted by the centipede – the namesake for the kindergarden – as an oversized wall object. Serving both as decoration and a board of information, the centipede is an ideal space to exhibit the children’s paintings and artworks. Meanwhile, the many legs of the centipede also serve as toys. Ropes with a final ball in matching colors may and should be touched and played with. Flexible elements are always a point of attraction and encourage playful movement.
The many colors of the windows are reflected in the colored lathing in the interior continuing over both floors along the staircase. This lathing encloses the staircase and continues below it to form a playhouse. It doesn’t take much – a child-sized door and a window – to create a hut or cave in the children’s imagination.
Access to the garden is possible from both floors. A bright yellow staircase defines the access to the garden from the upper floor and simultaneously serves as a mandatory fire escape. Accessible from both the original building as well as the extension, the large outdoor play area opens up to connect not only the two wings of the building, but also the different groups of children, who come here to all play together. The ground floor group rooms have direct access to the garden through large doors. Several large sand areas, interspersed with swings and slides characterize the outdoors. In the summer months, the indoor and outdoor space combine to create one continuous world of play.
FLOORPLAN
