2020

TRIPLE KINDERGARTEN AND DAY CARE CENTRE
Project Competition. New Building
for raumfalter Architekten & Ciriacidis Architekten

City of St. Gallen. Switzerland
New building area: 1.506 m2
Organizer: City of St. Gallen

Location – plateaus and terraces

Location

The site where the New Triple Kindergarten and the New Day Care Centre will be built is currently topographically characterised by the formation of uneven plateaus and terraces. The Gerhalden school, located above the building site, stands on a plinth that divides the entire school complex into an upper plateau with an assembly area, and a lower plateau on which the spacious playground is located. To the east, the building site is flanked by a lush, protected grove of trees and the Tanneichenbach stream running behind it. The attractive playground and neighbourhood meeting point is located in a topographical depression, bordered by the group of trees. Further east, the graceful Holy Trinity Church is located on another plateau and thus forms the eastern end of the neighbourhood meeting point. The sequence of squares and terraces with their edges, steps and slopes form a contrast to the free form of the lushly planted Tanneichbach stream. This strong and characterising composition is the starting point for the project proposal.

Building Concept

The new house stands on a terrace, continuing the existing theme of terracing at this location. The basic idea of the two-storey wooden building is the intensive connection and interweaving of inside and outside for both storeys and on both sides to the arrival area and the play grove towards the grove of trees. The Triple Kindergarten is located on the ground floor. Each unit is accessed directly from the arrival square at ground level and has a direct connection to the play grove towards the Tanneichbach stream. Visual references through several layers of space from the arrival square to the grove of trees allow the outdoor space to become part of the interior space.

The Day Care Centre is located on the upper floor and is also accessed from the arrivals area via two single-flight staircases. Here, too, a direct connection and orientation to both sides is created by two further staircases leading to the play grove in the direction of the Tanneichbach. The position of the building generates two clear, attractive and versatile outdoor spaces of different qualities that enable an intensive and tangible relationship to the entire interior of the two-storey wooden structure. On the north side, two seating steps provide a direct link between the Day Care Centre and the adjacent, higher playground.

Organization

All three kindergartens are located on the ground floor. They are identical and are organized and accessed as separate units. However, they can also be connected. This allows a flexible and spacious play and learning landscape to be created, which also enables new teaching concepts. The Day Care Centre is located on the upper floor. The four main childcare rooms are located at each of the four corners and are optimally lit. The kitchen is at the centre of the building. The timber frame construction also allows the rooms on the upper floor to be flexibly combined and used in a variety of ways. Here, too, a learning landscape is created with the possibility of creating niches and zones for different groups and individual work, or quieter play areas.