A competition was launched in late 2004 for a kindergarten and nursery in the new sprawling neighbourhood of Laniste at the south-west edge of Zagreb. At the time of the competition, the neighbourhood consisted mainly of repeating apartment blocks, with no community or cultural centre, or any kind of focus for a rapidly growing part of town. So besides fulfilling the given program, an important issue to address was establishing a kindergarten as a place of community identity and gathering focal point.
An extensive program accommodating 250 children was to be placed on a triangular lot, near a loud highway approaching the city. This context became referential to the project: two main perpendicular walkways connecting the entrance square with the immediate surrounding form a point of origin where the entrance is placed. The building has two storeys to free more outdoor space. Different zones are layered from north to south to gradually form a transition between public spaces near the highway (multipurpose hall, services and service entrance) toward the southern, more protected zones of the day-care units and playground. The hall is divided from the units via a row of patios, enabling the units to be bilaterally lighted and aired. These patios are interrupted by cloakrooms that form bridges connecting the units to the hall. Each sanitary block is connected to the unit by a specially designed wash bin which consists of many sinks of different sizes imprinted into a large plate-like disk meant to outgrow its purely sanitary role and be an active part of the children's activities and experimentations. Large terraces connect the units with the playground; they are covered but perforated as to simulate the sensation of light falling through leaves. The motif of the circle, present throughout the kindergarten, extends onto the outdoor space to form various islands of play, grass or flowers and to visually make the small playground seem larger.
The context of the kindergarten changed dramatically since the launch of the competition: a new arena used for various events has been built in the vicinity, and a large shopping centre with cinemas followed. Instead of giving the neighbourhood its place of identity and only focus, the kindergarten became a quiet counterpart to the loud neighbours, welcoming community activities.