Preschools are special places. There is a strong belief that since they are spaces dedicated to children, they must pulsate with strong colors, and ideally each wall should be a different color. Architects from xy studio came out of a slightly different assumption. The interior of the kindergarten they designed is still colorful, even though it does not shock with a fever of colors from the threshold.
This is the kind of kindergarten each of us would like to spend time in when we were young. The architects of {tag:Studio} focused primarily on original ideas. They managed to remember what it's like to be a child - how one gets to know and absorb the surrounding reality. Secret passageways, equipment adapted to the height of the preschool adept and the "light keyboard" of the piano. This is what children like best!
Basia Hyjek: What was the main inspiration for the project? Children are particularly demanding audiences.
xy studio: Zebra and music - these were the guidelines we had from the investor and we tried to cleverly combine this into a coherent whole. Imposing at first moment black and whitecolor scheme we tried to break with natural shades of wood and green. A kindergarten, where children spend many hours, must be a relatively neutral place, hence we kept the intense colors for the common areas, while the halls are more calm.
The wooden "keyboard" in the entrance hall - between the boards on the ceiling are lamps arranged like black piano keys, additionally they light up in sequences
photo courtesy of xy studio
In our projects we also use a lot of cladding like felts, various panels that affect the acoustics of the rooms - a very important issue that improves the comfort of children and adults. We have designed surprises for the children in each room - the most popular is the "dormer", which is such a tower with a window that goes out of the room into the corridor. In another room there is a special bathroom door 150 cm high intended only for children. We assume that there should be something unique in each room that distinguishes them. Children changing groups in September look forward to THIS room with a "dormer", a store or a magic house. Because of these elements, they more easily identify with their group and feel special in some way.
Basia: Where did you get the idea for such a selection of colors and materials?
xy studio: The colors relate to the themes, in addition, graphite gives the interior an unusual expressiveness, a completely different effect from pastel interiors. We intentionally used such intense colors in this facility, but warmed it up with natural oak. We felt that this interior had to be intense and saturated. The recipients of this particular kindergarten feel great about it. I have the impression that we also disenchanted the graphite color, which investors are simply afraid of, they usually expect safe solutions that do not always give the desired effect.
Special bathroom door 150 cm high designed only for children
photo courtesy of xy studio
Basia: What was the biggest challenge in creating this space?
xy studio: The combination of zebras, music and the linguistic character of the facility. The investors wanted all three elements to be visible. It wasn't easy, but it worked out. Especially the wooden "keyboard" in the entrance hall - between the boards on the ceiling there are lamps arranged like black piano keys, additionally they light up in sequences.
