The future of our planet depends not only on us, but also on the youngest and upcoming generations. To best secure it, it is necessary to educate in the spirit of ecology and respect for nature. An attempt to create a space where the youngest will learn among plants, animals and the natural landscape was made by the {tag:pracownie} studio, which designed the "Bird Radio" Kindergarten in Bobrowniki.
Viewing the kindergarten in Bobrowniki from a bird's-eye perspective , it can be described as a building with a ribbon-shaped base refracted in four places. Part of the "ribbon" wraps around to form a u-shaped form, with a long wing protruding from one of the arms. Wing is the word used here not accidentally not only because of the architectural terminology - for the shape of the building resembles the outline of a bird's silhouette.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architekci
"Bird Radio" was situated on a plot of land located in a green area, right next to a recreational complex and a stadium. Despite the unevenness of the terrain on which the kindergarten stood, it is a single-story building, with all rooms and passageways at the same level. To achieve this effect, part of the structure had to be founded on piles. The plot of land on which the kindergarten was built is also an area prone to flooding, which is prevented by elevating part of the building above ground level.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architekci
a building with many faces
Each of the elevations of "Bird Radio" presents itself slightly differently and is a response to the needs of users and the building's diverse surroundings. Thus, the elevations on the side of Nightingale Street were arranged using white, partially transparent wall panels. The entrance area, located in the western part of the plot, has been solved in the form of an asymmetrically and hollowly bifurcated rectangle, which is lined with wood. A nesting box for birds served as inspiration here. The south-facing elevations, in turn, are entirely glazed, allowing children spending time in the kindergarten to admire the green meadow and the natural areas behind it.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architects
Bird Radio in Bobrowniki
The name of the kindergarten was inspired by Julian Tuwim's poem titled "Bird Radio".
Hello, hello! Here the bird radio in the birch grove,
We are broadcasting a program from the bird country.
Please, everyone set your camera,
For the birds have flown in to hold meetings:
First - on the matter,
What dawn squeaks in the grass?
Secondly - where does
Hides the echo in the forest?
Third - who is to
Should bathe first in the dew?
Fourth - how to
To know who the bird,
And who is not a bird?
And fifth through tenth
They will chirp, swish, quail,
Pitpilitate and pimpilate
- begins his poem by Julian Tuwim
Like the bird broadcast from Julian Tuwim's poem, the Bobrovnik kindergarten will be rather noisy, as there are seats provided for 200 children. Going by the theme, the architects decided that the building's leitmotif would be the birds inhabiting the Bobrowniki municipality. The eight educational rooms were therefore named : blackbirds, tits, wrens, larks, swallows, kingfishers, wagtails and sparrows. "Birdy" is, by the way, the whole neighborhood, because the kindergarten stood on Nightingale Street, and right next door there are others - Pheasants, Owls or thrushes and titmice.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architects
Each of the rooms also has a different color scheme, which supports the process of building identity in children and makes it easier to navigate the building. The educational rooms are informally divided into zones for play and study, and the interior furnishings have been prepared in the form of wooden wall panels, resembling the outlines of "cottages" with gabled roofs - a common motif in contemporary kindergarten architecture. Wood was also used to finish the rooms, where it appears in the form of lamellas fixed on the walls and ceilings. The south-facing walls are entirely glazed, and if necessary the large windows can be darkened with automatic blinds. Quite a lot of light comes through the glazing, but their greatest asset is the view of the playground, the kindergarten meadow and the grove behind it.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architects
education in the green
"Bird Radio" was built on a large plot of land with a meadow and a grove just beyond its borders. The goal guiding the architects while working on the landscaping around the building was to make the best possible use of the surrounding greenery. As mentioned above, the solution of the longest, southern elevation was subordinated to it. Right in front of it is a fenced playground with sections for children of different age groups, and on the eastern side, where the ribbon-shaped body of the building forms a small courtyard, the architects designed an amphitheater with a stage and seats in the form of cascading piled gabions. In the depths of the courtyard was a wooden terrace, which allows to organize kindergarten activities in the open air, in a space sheltered by the walls of the building from the wind and the sight of passers-by. Part of the courtyard currently serves as a kindergarten garden. The unevenness of the area, which consists of moving embankments, was secured with retaining walls made of gabions.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architects
kindergarten with ecopark
In the coming years, the meadow located on the southern side of the plot where the kindergarten was built is also to be home to an Ecopark, a blue-green space where children will be able to develop through direct contact with nature.
The Ecopark is a form of giving back to nature the land that was taken for the construction of the kindergarten. It is an area arranged in a conscious manner, in which there was room for both animals, plants and humans - observers of the beautiful surroundings. Thus, the ecopark becomes a place where the youngest will grow in respect for nature and a place that becomes the key to the birth of passion and its subsequent development.
- write the architects about the planned development.
"Bird Radio" kindergarten in Bobrowniki
Photo: Projekt Plus Architects
ecotechnology for a better future
In "Bird Radio" eco is not only the park, but also the building itself. Designers here have applied a number of environmentally friendly solutions. Part of the energy needed for the operation of the kindergarten is obtained thanks to photovoltaic panels, which appear here in three forms - traditional frame panels, located on the roof of the building, photovoltaic glass facade panels and special photovoltaic blinds. In turn, natural materials with a low carbon footprint were used when finishing and furnishing the nursery interiors. The greatest significance for the future of our planet, however, will be the attitude of the coming generations - the one at "Bird Radio" is shaped amid friendly architecture, greenery and respect for the creations of nature.
