Typology education Location Neumarkt am Wallersee Construction Volume GFA 1.001m², GV 3.665m³ Client Stadtgemeinde Neumarkt am Wallersee Realisation 2008-2009 Competition 1st prize 2003 Awards Europäischer FarbDesignPreis 2009 – 2. prize, International Architecture Awards 2010 The Chicago Athenaeum – honorable mention
#The kindergarten (including a crèche) for four groups of children is incorporated into the landscape like a chameleon
Genius Loci – the first impression of this place in the midst of green meadows and fields leads to the concept of the built playground. The elevated and abstractly stylized “grass” facade of the cubic building brings a certain harmony to the volume as well as an identity and orientation for the kindergarten.
The inner organization of the two- storey building follows the logic of use: On the ground floor, one finds the space for the kindergarten groups – with direct access to the garden while the crèche groups are kept safe in the floor above. The group rooms are lined up along the south side with direct access to the terrace. To the east are additional rooms such as the personnel area, administration, quiet room and mess hall. The mid-point and core of the building is the multifunctional “interactions space” – a public communication area located at the intersection between functions. The multi-functional hall is a communicative centre for children and caretakers, used as a junction for various functions: a space for shared activities and an alternative space for bad-weather activities.
The space of the kindergarten, over the course of time, will be filled with colourful children’s things, furnishings, materials and first works. Thus, we consciously reduced the colour spectrum to the single tone variation of ‘green grass.’
The floor-to-ceiling glassed-in ground floor invites nature straight into the building by lighting up the group rooms with plenty of sunlight; whereas the window openings of the upper level behind the ornamental facade create a completely different lighting and provide the youngest users of the crèche with an atmosphere of nurturing shelter.
