Wallimann Reichen

Kindergarten Würenlingen

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer

KINDERGARTEN WÜRENLINGEN

Malte Kloes Architekten + Wallimann Reichen

PHOTOGRAPHS
Lukas Murer, Simon Menges

AREA
1305.0 m2

YEAR
2018

LOCATION
Würenlingen, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Kindergarten

Text description provided by architect.

The challenge of the competition leading to the project was to design a building that could compactly combine a kindergarten on the ground floor with a public underground car park.

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges

This unusual task led to a hybrid building meeting the different requirements of both programs with an unconventional building structure: The floor plan of the kindergarten on the ground floor is based on the minimum width of 18 meters required for an efficient layout of the underground car park.

In order to minimize the loads on the ceiling slab of the parking structure, the kindergarten roof above the ground floor was designed as a free-spanning structure.

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer

Prestressed concrete beams in conjunction with an extensive concrete slab following the shape of the exterior hip roof distribute the majority of all vertical loads to the exterior facades.

At the same time, the concise roof structure creates atmospheric, tentlike spaces on the inside, which are flooded with daylight via generous linear skylights.

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges

The concrete beams in combination with the wooden, non-load-bearing, built-in structures divide the interior into three kindergarten compartments, which are connected via large sliding doors.

Circular openings in the concrete beams allow for visual connections between the main spaces and the cozy, skylit mezzanine hide-outs between the beams.

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer

The analogy of the "tent house", which emerged during the competition phase and manifested in the design of the interior spaces, also shaped the design of the external appearance of the building:

By cladding the formwork panels with wavy elastomer matrices during construction, the outer surface of the exposed concrete façade inherited a delicate, curtain-like relief, deliberately contrasting the monolithic materialization of the building.

Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer


Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Simon Menges
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer
Kindergarten Würenlingen
© Lukas Murer


Kindergarten Würenlingen
Sections
Kindergarten Würenlingen
Axonometric


Kindergarten Würenlingen
Parking Plan
Kindergarten Würenlingen
Ground Floor Plan
Kindergarten Würenlingen
Situation Plan

Wallimann Reichen
T +41 44 4415407
Wallimann Reichen
Bläsiring 159, 4057 Basel, Switzerland
Malte Kloes Architekten GmbhH
T +41 44 5452929
Malte Kloes Architekten GmbhH
Grubenstrasse 45, 8045 Zürich, Switzerland
Wallimann Reichen
T +41 44 4415407
Wallimann Reichen
Bläsiring 159, 4057 Basel, Switzerland