Kashimada Nursery

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

Kashimada Nursery

Terrain Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Ikko Kobayashi, Fumi Kashimura

LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS
Humus

EQUIPMENT DESIGN
Architectural Energy Research Institute

STRUCTURAL DESIGNERS
Ryotaro Sakata Structural Engineer

CONTRACTORS
Satohide Corporation

PHOTOGRAPHS
Yuichi Higurashi

AREA
1219 M²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Kawasaki, Japan

CATEGORY
Kindergarten, Day Care

This nursery project is located in Kashimada, an area in the suburbs of Tokyo known for attracting many families with children, adjacent to an industrial zone surrounded by residential towers.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

The site sits between a busy road and a pedestrian path full of greenery in great use by the locals. It is surrounded by different public facilities such as a fire station, waterworks bureau, and housing estates. .

The two-story wooden building was constructed in a former water distribution facility site, avoiding the circular foundation remains of the surge tank.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

From the adjacent green pathway featuring large deciduous trees and benches, one can experience the sight of children playing in the playground, activities taking place on the terrace, and the interaction between parents and children during drop-off and pick-up time, where from the nursery, one can observe the elderly individuals taking walks and children from other nurseries on their stroll.

It aims to become a nursery that would inherit the past history while developing with the local community.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

Through our experience of undertaking several projects in Uganda, where standard material dimensions are limited, we have realized that the specific dimensions of wooden structures we derived from Ugandan standards (3 meters, 4.5 meters, and 5 meters) could also prove effective in nursery architecture.

After spending an extended period with young children, we found that the specific dimension/area created by the combination of 8 tatamis (hachijyo-ma) matched well with their body size and movement close to the floor.

Each nursery room consists of four of these hachijyo-mas surrounding the central pole column, shifted for 3,640mm (length created by two tatamis; futa-ma) from each other, forming a windmill plan.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

This sequence of futa-mas creating a gentle space felt like an essential dimension that resonates with the sensory experience in the field of childcare.

Furthermore, each of the four nursery rooms share a room referred to as the “Junk-Box”.

This space inherits the essence of the teaching materials storage from the public nursery school before relocation.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

It is a space where small dimensions accumulate, such as mechanisms for easily taking out stationery and picture books from inside and outside the storage area and heights visible to children but not within their reach.

In addition, other services, such as toilets, are also included in this space, and it will also function as a pathway connecting two nursery rooms.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

The whole structure consists of two buildings with a windmill-like, single-sloped roof connected at the center, having an entrance on the ground floor and a space for reading picture books on the first floor joining the two buildings.

The configuration consists of two buildings of the same size connected by a narrow section. Each building is structurally independent, applying the same structural mechanism.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi
Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi

By strategically placing load-bearing walls around the “Junk-Box”, which functions as a storage space or a core service space, a space has been created where one can experience the connection between outdoors and indoors, as well as between gardens, pathways, and nursery rooms.

Instead of confining the movement of children with immovable walls, the framework's presence is utilized in a way that gently suggests movements and places, using structural elements such as logs and beams.

Kashimada Nursery
© Yuichi Higurashi


Kashimada Nursery
Plan - Ground Floor
Kashimada Nursery
Plan - 1st Floor
Kashimada Nursery
Plan - Detail