- Competition: 2018
- Location: Praha (CZ)
The main idea of design was to create a modern kindergarten without limits and strict borders, where every space can catalyze a new game or activity and develops the kids‘ creativity and knowledge. We have proposed a playful space divided by heights, where children can feel comfortable and they are looking forward to come back.
The U-shaped ground plan with the inner yard connected with a tube creates a lap, where children can chase and play endlessly. The building tries to use as much of the lot as possible because of the small area of the building lot. The front facade follows the given street line. We are preserving the existing garage facade that follows the fence line of the surrounding objects behind which a ramp for supply is located.
An important element of design was to create a protected and safe space for outdoor games and activities, i.e. an atrium. That is why the building consists of two parallel parts connected with a third part perpendicular to them that separates the yard from the street. The whole interior of the kindergarten is oriented towards the garden with a playground. The kitchen, the storage, the laundry, the technical room and the rooms for teachers and other employees are located in the basement. The main entrance is on the ground level in the central part with a small public space opening to the street in front. The manager and therapist office, as well as the room for ceramic workshops with vertical connection to the first floor are placed in the western part. The space on the first floor is utilized as a dining room during lunchtime and as a workshop room during the day. In the eastern part, there is a dressing room, a playroom and a bedroom.
The storages for gardening tools and toys have separate entrances from the outside. The playrooms on the ground-floor and first floor are playfully connected with ramps and slides. This connection also serves as an interaction and meeting point for younger and older kids which creates an opportunity to help and learn from each other. Another part of the second floor is a connection tube between the eastern and western wings that creates a circular connection and a flow of movement inside the building. There is an open space with “living” stairs with the function of a small auditorium for reading, screening and different performances in the central part, visible from the street. The bedroom and the individual classroom are placed in the corners.
The building of the kindergarten “Na Marně” offers a playful space with diverse character as an ideal environment for elementary education of children as well as a cosy place for the meetings of parents and another communities and it brings “fresh air” to the whole street and neighbourhood through its design.
