Frederiksvej KindergartenRealized

Year: First prize in competition 2011, completed 2015
Client: City of Frederiksberg
Program: Day care center for 182 children, age 0-6
Size: 1,700m²

At its core, a kindergarten is about creating a safe, playful and inspiring setting for kids to grow up in. The starting point for this kindergarten was to create a building from the eye level of a child. The design is based on a concept that kids are very fond of: The playhouse. As a series of small houses within a bigger house, the interior of the kindergarten is composed of several small and different worlds that vary in size and function. A house within a house becomes a recurring motif, both indoors and out. The aim is to create architecture that is comprehensible in the eyes of a child and to draw inspiration from the simplicity and purity of a child’s drawing. The result is a scaled-down environment consisting of many different worlds, but also a place where kids can feel a sense of belonging to one specific house within the cluster of houses.

We asked ourselves: How can we design an efficient and large-scale institution that respects and cares for each individual child?

"We wanted the design of the kindergarten to be as simple as a kid’s drawing. The ultra-­simple detailing and the pitched-roof motif take their inspiration from a kid’s perception of architecture."
–Dan Stubbergaard, architect and founder, Cobe

How to make large seem small? Frederiksvej Kindergarten is both a functional, efficient institution for 182 kids and a village with room to play, where everyone can find a safe and homey place.

As the big kindergarten had to be arranged in three levels, it was crucial for each level to have its own outdoor space – with easy access to a playground.

Like a matryoshka doll of small houses, the interior of the kindergarten is composed of several small and different worlds for the kids. Beds, toilets and play niches are all designed as pitched-roof houses.

The building will unite the individual, downscaled and recognizable expression with the advantages of a large and integrated institution, creating an exciting kindergarden for kids as well as a functional workspace for the adult educators.

Which deserves better architecture: Art museums or kindergartens?
New York Post, February 16, 2016.
https://nypost.com/2016/02/16/this-architectural-wonder-is-being-wasted-on-5-year-olds/

Collaborators: Preben Skaarup Landskab, Søren Jensen, Learning Spaces, Brdr. Thybo, Caverion, Juul & Nielsen

Awards: ArchDaily Building of the Year Award 2017

Team: Agnieszka Krasuska, Agnieszka Szczepanska, Claes Nilsson, Christian Sander, Dan Stubbergaard, Davide Pontoni, Eik Bjerregaard, Greta Tiedje, Jens Wagner, Jonas Nordgren, Kato Hiroshi, Rune Boserup.