The Lion International Kindergarten Project is located in an old residential community in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou. Surrounded by old-fashioned houses, the community itself lacks a venue for children’s activities. Children here are in desperate need of a comfortable and safe environment to learn and play.
The project sits in an old granary with an area of barely 500sqm, and presents multiple contradictions between functionality, spatial distribution and environment adequacy. Through conscious design, VMPDE breaks away with the restrictions generated by the surrounding areas and the space available, to create a healthy and sustainable environment for children to grow.
The kindergarten is part of the new residential area in Yu Hang in the east of Hangzhou, China.
The three-storey new building is planned for 180 children in 6 groups dependant from their age. Each group has a separate cluster consisting an own bedroom, changing/bath and playroom.
The central area is bounded to the left and right by the stacked volumes of the clusters and to the north by a service volume. This open three-story high space is like a large atrium and natural light can be used through a big glass roof.
The birth rate in Japan is on a constant decline resulting decrease in the number of siblings proportionately. As a result, the different age children aren’t able to develop a strong connection which results in developing complex, restricting them to freely communicate with others. This site is located in an area where this tendency can be seen remarkably. Hence we started with 'connection' as the key concept.
Sasaki’s addition to the student recreation center at the University of Arizona in Tucson cuts an impressive silhouette against the Sonoran Desert landscape. The 54,000-square-foot addition doubles the amount of space for cardio-fitness and strength conditioning and diversifies the center’s recreational program offerings. The structure is a genuine expression of the student body’s commitment to health, wellbeing, and sustainability—inspired and informed by the very people whom the center is intended to engage. Since opening in 2010, participation has increased 91%, general use of fitness equipment has increased 150%, wait times have been eliminated, membership has increased 10.5%, and 10 new programs have been initiated. The building is LEED® Platinum Certified—the first collegiate recreational facility to be designated as such.
SO? has redesigned an existing 20000 m2 public cultural center by a major renovation project for Beylikduzu Municipality in Istanbul. Located in a district with 317.000 population, the project serves as a major public spot with its vibrant facilities such as library, children library, multi-purpose hall, playground area, workshops and studios and cinema halls, all reconfigured and redesigned by SO?. The building has gone under both structural and architectural renovation that require the redesigning of the entire interior and the façade.
The new Kindergarten – Nová Ruda in Vratislavice nad Nisou – solves the need of the city district regarding its growing population, by providing educational spaces and a leisure area for children.
The plot is the property of the city and was chosen as most suitable for the new housing development planned in the immediate vicinity and the new kindergarten. The site itself is still undeveloped and the larger part of the land is defined as public greenery. In the immediate vicinity there is a historic building, a secondary art school, and several patches of family houses, which as a whole, form a rather rural context.
Launched in July 2018, Big and Tiny is a unique enrichment space in Santa Monica that fosters productivity, creativity, and community for both parents and kids. It is the first integrated learn, play and work space with entrepreneurial parents in mind. We bring the flexibility of traditional co-working spaces to child care.
The mission of the company is to support and empower our vibrant community of parents by helping them integrate their personal and professional lives. Based on this premise, Big and Tiny was designed with both adults and children in mind.
In the concrete jungle of Hong Kong, the new campus of the French International School stands as a vibrant green oasis in the dense city. 1100 pupils now enjoy a colorful, collaborative multicultural learning space, setting the scene for the working environment of tomorrow.
Just above street level in Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O district, sunlight meets the kaleidoscopic façade of the new French International School campus, spilling into the building through windows laid across a grid of 627 multicolored tiles. From the street, this colorful façade draws the eye to the institution’s new primary and secondary school – A vibrant, sustainable environment supporting a world-class multicultural education.
Next to the Gushan Ferry Pier that connects Kaohsiung to Cijin is a FamilyMart. Further down the road is a Watsons. Continuing along it is a series of storefronts, most of which are delis and dessert shops.
Would anyone have ever wondered what is behind this row of shops?
Indeed, if you take some time to get around to it, you will discover a local neighborhood situated just between that bustling road and the pier-side, where the place is decorated with some casually erected melon sheds, a small square in front of the temple, and plenty of randomly placed plantations. Above all, you will also be treated to some waterfront sceneries in the cool breeze as you stand in this subtropical city of Taiwan.
The kindergarten in Ponte d’Arbia plays with the Tuscan landscape along the via Francigena with lines and colors; the school is, according to the contemporary teaching methods, a flexible and open architecture.
Designing in the Tuscan Countryside, a place unique and rich in history, culture and rt was for Settanta7 an irresistible challenge, setting a contemporary and sustainable project.