Situated inside an existing campus, this new nursery school is conceived as a volume integrated within the landscape. By mediating a level change its impact is minimised and existing trees preserved. Protected by a modelled and partially accessible green roof,
the new building is itself a park, an element of mediation between the spaces associated with the existing schools and an example of welcoming and inclusive architecture. The design was inspired by the sensation of passing from the shade of a forest into a clearing warmed by the sun. The base unit of the classroom multiplies and expands, wrapping back on itself to embrace a private green space: the clearing.
The open elevation presents a building-wall that materialises as a long fragmented diaphragm made of perforated wood panels and decorated with a motif that recalls the effects of light filtering through a canopy of trees. The school is without rigid functional hierarchies and instead a fluid and continuous space whose interiors transmute into a living environment through a reinterpretation of spaces of passage connecting the classrooms and common areas. The latter are imagined as multipurpose spaces organised along a ring of circulation,
in an open system that stimulates curiosity and sense of belonging.
The interiors are characterised by a privileged relationship with nature and light: all of the classrooms face onto the landscaped internal patio, surrounded by trees framing the view of the sky. all of the classrooms face onto the landscaped internal patio, surrounded by trees framing the view of the sky. This parti guarantees children daily exposure to an integrated learning experience in direct contact with the surrounding environment.
