About Kindergartens

To paraphrase the words of a Dutch architect, an experienced designer of schools and kindergartens, Herman Herzberger: the space of a kindergarten/school is both a house, a playground and a small town. These words, we can treat as a brief definition of what is essential in the design of children’s place. On the one hand, kindergarten interiors should be an asylum, quiet place where one can feel like at home, avoid and rest from too many stimuli. On the other hand, space should offer a possibility of various games: for a group and an individual, involving movement and intellectual ones, thanks to which children learn through play and gain new skills.

For a child, kindergarten is also a small city, understood as a space shared with others and for which
together they care, where they meet new-strangers, make first friendships, learn to cooperate and about mutual relations, thus gaining social competence for the future. In this context, the way and quality in the design of buildings and interiors of kindergartens play a significant role in the education process and in shaping responsible, creative and empathic attitudes among the young generation, which in the future will be responsible for the quality of social capital.

When the child is still growing, it is essential to choose the appropriate furniture and arrange the room, that the user had the opportunity to play, learn and experiment. Boys and girls need many different stimuli to develop their creativity and motor skills, which is why we wanted children to be able to move and partially arrange the space according to their own needs. The object does not have only one purpose, but as much as a preschooler can dream. The idea of multifunctional spaces in the projects below allows fun and learning activities to be combined.

Refurbishment of an interior in Kindergarten nr 42 „Kwiaty Polskie”

Project Refurbishment of an interior in Kindergarten nr 42 „Kwiaty Polskie”
Office Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Location Poznań, Poland
Year 2017
Program Refurbishment of 2 classrooms
Area 137 m2
Photography Mateusz Bieniaszczyk
Text Maja Brzozowska-Brywczyńska

The design was an integral part of a project dedicated to the promotion of kids' active learning in a nursery environment - in which the kindergarten participated. The project's objective was to draft a space for learning and playing that would facilitate changes in the way teachers work with children in accordance with the idea of active learning.
On the building’s first floor there are two adjacent classes, both spacious and rectangular in shape. Between them there used to be a pair of double-winged – and usually closed - doors. After consultations with teachers of the neighbouring groups we decided to open up the space and enable the free flow of children and their activities between the rooms. The massive upholstered doors were replaced by sliding wooden panels covered half height in blackboard paint. We used the difference in light exposure in each of the rooms – oriented North and South - as a design inspiration.
The northern room, with windows lining up the two corner walls, provides now space for artistic activities – a place for creative albeit rather quiet work of the little hands. A broad window sill was installed under the windows overlooking the entrance to the building. It’s primary function was to serve as working table for kids, but it was soon reclaimed as a convenient vantage point to observe the life outside, hitherto beyond the kids’ reach.
The defining feature of the southern room – exposed to a beautiful warm light coming through the large windows overlooking the wooded playground – is a net-secured mezzanine located in the far corner. It enables both watching the room from above, and finding a hiding spot on the floor below. The stairs to the mezzanine serve as an auditorium. Just like in the other room, there is a broad wooden window sill lengthwise the windows, where kids can build with blocks or just sit and watch the world outside.
Each of the rooms is now divided into zones: starting from the entrance there is the table zone, where children have meals. Moving towards the centre of the room we enter the play zone that – due to the sliding door and open access to the adjacent room – covers quite a spacious area to let kids do what they are best at. The third zone – dedicated to artistic activity in the northern room and physical activity in the southern one - invites children to socialise, integrate and explore. The zones' perimeters are established with low mobile cupboards that carry all the necessities for work and play. By moving them around the room, the space for different activities can be either expanded or shrunk – depending on what is needed and imagined at the time. The original oak wood floors in both rooms have been sanded and oiled.

Kindergarten no. 46 at Księżycowa 10 Street
Project Refurbishment of an interior in Kindergarten no. 46 at Księżycowa 10 Street
Office Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Location Poznań, Poland
Year 2018
Program Refurbishment of a classroom
Area 102 m2
Photography Mateusz Bieniaszczyk

In the project of reorganization of the kindergarten's interior we focused on profiling architectural solutions, which would use the potential of a large area (102m2) and would introduce into the space a multitude of ways of using it. We started the new arrangement with the introduction of a mild grey. This allowed us to give the room a more comfortable colour perception, which also calmed down the previously unpleasant colour design. The room is divided into different zones, which guarantee flexibility of use and meet the spatial mobility requirement: in a matter of minutes, the layout can be quickly reorganized and the room can be adapted to the current requirements and needs. The central part is a common area for collective play and exercises, while the use of a recess on the opposite side of the entrance allowed for the separation of a mini stage with the possibility of installing a curtain. Thanks to this, the kindergarten has gained a theatre zone, which is perfect for the presentation of artistic and stage activities of preschoolers. In two corners there are zones of wooden platforms serving as a place for storing preschool equipment, but at the same time perfectly suited for the function of auditoriums and playgrounds in smaller groups of children. The previously existing problem of storing things was solved by installing cabinets with shelves along the walls. The window recesses have also gained new functions, where the focus was on designing wide windowsills, which thanks to this treatment turned into cozy and intimate rest areas with a view of the courtyards of the building. In order to maximize the use of space, the recesses under the window sills also serve as storage compartments. The whole is complemented by mobile seats hidden under the window sills, which can be used as elements for playing, and in the case of speeches, they serve as additional seats for the audience.

Kindergarten no. 87 „Jacusia and Agatki”, Św. Czesława 6A Street.
Project Refurbishment of an interior in Kindergarten no. 87 „Jacusia and Agatki”, Św. Czesława 6A Street
Office Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Location Poznań, Poland
Year 2018
Program Furniture design
Area 102 m2
Photography Mateusz Bieniaszczyk

Located at the Wilda in Poznań, the 87th Jacusia and Agatka Kindergarten is an example of well-designed architecture which, despite the passage of time, can still be an inspiration for the younger generation of architects. Our activities focused on the reconstruction of three classrooms, where we tried to maximize the spatial potential of both rooms and add new elements that complement the existing interior. The large size and differentiation in the height of the ceilings in each of the rooms allowed us to define two zones: a general zone for common play and exercise, and a more intimate zone (lower), which serves as a rest area. The new mobile door connecting the two rooms has been partially covered with board paint so that it can also serve as a panel on which you can place information or drawings. In the corner of one of the rooms, there is a multifunctional platform where things can be stored, but at the same time, it serves as a small stage and space for creativity, interaction and play. By widening the window sills along the windows, preschoolers have gained another place to spend their free time and observe nature in the school garden. The maximization of functions was not forgotten either, so underneath the windowsills, there was a thought of providing space for storing things and toys. The choice of material was based on its multisensory properties, strength and friendly surface in use, so it was decided to make all the elements of birch plywood.