Godthaab Kindergarden

Copenhagen, Denmark

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Godthaab Kindergarden

Copenhagen, Denmark

Firm

Andersen & Sigurdsson Architects

Type

Educational › Nursery

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2016

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

Godthaab kindergarten is a small extension to a kindergarten housed in an old villa in Frederiksberg. Frederiksberg is an independent municipality located as an enclave within the municipality of Copenhagen. It is the smallest municipality in Denmark area-wise, but the most densely populated. With 100,000 inhabitants spread over 8.70 km2, it goes without saying that the inhabitants live in close coexistence and that any new constructions in the area happen within a dense context. The extension to the kindergarten is no exception in this regard.

The extension to Godthaabsvej kindergarten contains two classrooms and associated facilities, a total of 140 m2. The site is narrow and located between two large villas from the 1900s.
The extension aims to make a minimal intervention in the existing garden and is therefore placed right on the boundary of the site. It is a narrow and elongated space stretching from east to west, closing off towards the neighbours to the south and opening up the classrooms with a large glass façade towards the existing building and the garden. The southern façade has skylights all along the otherwise closed façade towards the neighbours.

The extension utilizes and maximises the existing conditions of the small city site, while at the same time giving the kids a bright and open space that is in direct contact with the garden, the treetops and the sky. The burnished aluminium facades with large glass panels are simple and unobtrusive and the building will patinate over time with beauty and durability. The entire roof of the kindergarden is covered with sedum green roof, providing micro climate for insects and birdlife, reducing the surface runoff of rainfall as well as improving thermal insulation.