ArchShowcase Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Kindergarden in Zlotniki Kujawskie, Poland by Dominik Górecki ArchitektDecember 21st, 2018 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Dominik Górecki Architekt Due to the poor technical condition of the old kindergarten building, authorities of Zlotniki Kujawskie decided to undertake a tendering procedure for a design of a new building for 125 pupils, grouped in 5 departments and to use the same, extensive building plot. The basic criteria which have to be met by the newly designed facility, in addition of course being in accordance with the planning decision describing rules of the location of investment of public purposes, were firstly the need of locating all functions of the building at the ground floor block, so that all the rooms have direct access to the garden with a playground and secondly the use of the simplest and cheapest ways of building in particular the technology of masonry construction with polystyrene blocks as thermal insulation and plastered facades, all to fit a small budget for this purpose.
Due to the irregular shape of the plot, despite the large plot area in relation to a planned development, planning of individual components was not an easy task. It was not only because the one-story layout but also the need to maintain the existing kindergarten building in full functionality until the start of the new facility. In addition portion of the land had to be designated for playground, car parking and possible future expansion of the building. I decided to design a one-story building in the form of a long rectangular prism, covered with a flat roof. This block was varied only by the two roofs over the main entrance and east terrace, located in the north narrow part of the plot which is adjacent to a public road. Thanks to this all the rooms for children have windows facing south, thus ensuring all-day access to daylight. The garden with a playground was arranged in the central part of the plot, between the new and the old building. This arrangement also has other advantages – easy access to the parking lot in front of the main entrance and the possibility to divide the property so that its southern part with the old building could function as a separate property if required. Existing architectural and urban context did not fill me with optimism – a typical chaos of forms, scales and colors, all typical for Polish building realism, forced me to completely ignore it. Because in the immediate vicinity I could not see anything worthwhile, for what it is worth to recall, I decided, bearing in mind modest budget, to design a building with a contemporary and restrained appearance, which thus stands out from the surrounding buildings. Initially it wasn’t easy to convince the investor to simple means of architectural language like flat roof, white rendered elevations varied only by parts of walls and sliding shutters made of Siberian larch, left untreated, so that it can age naturally. Ultimately, the investor during the building process, where first general contractor have failed venture due to lack of experience, agreed to the solutions and we could finish the building together. Layout of the building is leaned on the three divisions, where long hallway runs in the middle, one side are located classrooms and sanitary facilities for children, and the other side are administrative and technical areas with windows facing the north. The main entrance from the car park leads directly to the lobby at the same time performing the function of an open locker room. At the end of the hall is a large room, separated by a foldable wall into two independent spaces. In the need of different celebrations, meetings, presentations and other similar events in the life of the kindergarten and the municipal community, movable walls gives the room a relatively large space to use in different ways. The east covered terrace adjacent to this room is an additional advantage, performing very well in the case of festivities during the summer, when by the opening of the glazed terrace windows the inside and outside space perform as one functional room. Contact Dominik Górecki Architekt
Tags: Poland, Zlotniki Kujawskie Categories: Building, Kindergarten |