Pablo Neruda Nursery School
PABLO NERUDA NURSERY SCHOOL
Rueda Pizarro
COLLABORATORS
Antonio Cantero, Miguel Chillerón, Alberto Galindo, Laura Montero
CATEGORY
Schools
TECHNICAL ARCHITECT
Pedro G. Merino. Arq. Técnico
LOCATION
Alcorcón, Spain
YEAR
2010
CLIENT
Ayuntamiento de Alcorcón
BUDGET
Pem 1.389.459,08 Euros
Lewis Carroll accurately described in "Alice in Wonderland" the duality between the world of adults and of children: imagination-reality, play-work, fun-responsibility ...
A nursery school can be transformed into Alice's world where everything is sensations, experiences, color, play of scales perceived through the eyes of a child, and this world can live with the world of the adult, complemented and enhanced by the duality of scales.
This school is proposed as a child's construction set consisting of parts clearly differentiated by colors and materials. Access is from a previous garden where a path climbs gently into the building.
As the threshold is crossed, there is a multipurpose space, diaphanous, where a series of different colored skylights accompany children to their classrooms.
A great roof of variable thickness covers all parts of the program and houses the energy facilities that the building needs. The roof is perforated (skylights) broken (yards), cantilevered (porches), folded (services) ... constituting a heavy element that seems to float on colored, light pieces.
The interior layout addresses different orientations and circulations. The classrooms are located southeast, to get the most sunlight in winter, protected by deciduous trees and deep porches during summer.
This covered outdoor space is associated to the classrooms, as an extension for games, and is perceived from inside by perforations at the scale of the child, allowing adequate insight into their world.
The teachers and service units are located to the north, with independent circulations and accesses from outside.
These two parts of the program are related through the main lobby, which can operate independently or attached to the classrooms, creating a large covered gathering space for children's events.
