Architecture:
Jure Hrovat
Ana Kreč
Katja Paternoster
Landscape architecture:
Darja Matjašec
Nejc Florjanc
Katja Mali
Data:
KINDERGARTEN KOČEVJE, Unit Čebelica ("Honey Bee")
Category: Large-Scale Architectural Realisation
Authors: architecture: SVET VMES: Jure Hrovat, Ana Kreč, Katja Paternoster
Landscape architecture: KOLEKTIV TEKTONIKA: Darja Matjašec, Nejc Florjanc, Katja Mali
Collaborators: architecture: Tjaša Koglot, Ana Križaj, Marko Kavčič, Sebastjan Oblak
structural engineering: CBD, d.o.o.
electrical installations: BIRO LOVŠIN, d.o.o.
mechanical installations: PREBOJ, Vasja Cic, s.p.
mains drainage: VO PROJEKT, s.p.
traffic: TEGA invest
Principal construction and fitting: CGP, d.d.
Location: 24 Ljubljanska Road, 1330 Kočevje
Year of realisation: 2022
Gross area: 5,025 sqm
Investor: Municipality of Kočevje
Overall investment: €7,070,000 EUR (exclusive of tax)
Type of commission: Competition
Web site: www.svetvmes.si/kocevjekindergarten
PLEČNIK MEDAL in the category of large-scale architectural realisation
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Kindergarten Kočevje, Unit Čebelica ("Honey Bee") - Jury's report
The new building of Kindergarten Kočevje reaffirms the prowess and creativity of the Slovene architectural profession in the field of education-related development. In developing kindergartens, the designers habitually encounter limited funds, copious over-regulation and legislative rigidity, which may often result in the inhibition of creativity and re-interpretation of commonplace architectural solutions. Kindergarten Kočevje's invigoratingly considered design and the precision of the execution in timber are thus more than welcome.
The siting of the kindergarten's building onto the plot represents a successful response to the diverse urban context of Kočevje's centre comprising a retail building and a large car park, a low-rise apartment block with detached garages, a workshop, and the municipal building. The development does not shy away from the diversity of the surroundings but rather accommodates it and takes supreme advantage of their properties, connecting them with the experiences in the kindergarten's interior. The visual connections of the interior with the surroundings confront the children with the triviality of the everyday environment yet also present them with the sensation of being included into the wider community. As the children shape their own world, they also take on board the world without: the feeling of community fosters social responsibility in the earliest of life stages and encourages the children to become active and committed members of the community.
The project reconsiders the typology of a kindergarten building. The articulated design of the relatively large building develops around the two inner courts serving as exterior classrooms as well as bookending the common entrance hall, which acts as an interior square. The spaces are designed as a visually and physically flowing educational and playing landscape which allows for several simultaneous activities. The manner in which the programmes are distributed allows for basic tasks such as food preparation to become part of the children's everyday. The design and placement of integrated furniture makes spaces into the settings of the children's daily experiences and actively includes them into all the kindergarten's dynamics occurring throughout the day, which gives rise to community-building. The kindergarten becomes a small-scale children's city.
The facade membrane of the rationally designed volume envelops the children's world, protects it, and responds to the interior content and children's activities taking place inside. The window is transformed into a comfortable padded alcove which narratively brings the children's hustle and bustle into the outside world.
Due to the insufficient size of the plot, the exterior play surfaces are divided into two separate clusters: the sport-oriented roof surface and the exterior playground in the garden. Both are complemented by a large stepped course which descends from the roof playground to the one in the garden and allows the children to playfully test their physical abilities. By way of the kindergarten, the children are provided with diverse opportunities for play and spending time together on the exterior surfaces. The kindergarten in Kočevje is not just a house but a laboratory for novel life challenges.
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