Kindergarten and preschool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The intervention concerns the construction of a small 0-6 kindergarten school, within a larger initiative of redevelopment of a school campus in Macerata. With the intention of turning context constraints – a small lot size and very short construction time – into opportunities, the project follows simple typological and construction characters.

The new building is configured through a system of solids and voids united by a large pitched roof, which defines the ground footprint of the school and a series of threshold spaces between interior and exterior. Three volumes -that accommodate classrooms, offices, and services- draw a sequence of spaces of diverse forms and proportions. The result is a porous system that has the tension to open up to the outdoor garden: oblique views, changes in the section of the roof, the articulation of spaces is revealed in the transition points between rooms.

The structure is made entirely of wood; the walls of the interior volumes as well as the entire façade perimeter constitute the vertical structures, made with the platform frame system. The transparency of the facades allows the regular rhythm of the vertical supports to be read from the outside. The setback of the facades, generated by the rotation of the volumes, draws generous covered spaces which also contribute to the passive functioning of the building.

Within the “in-between” spaces between the rooms, a series of out-of scale objects -a portal, a skylight over a double-height space, an isolated column- act as small architecture wonders to the eyes of the kids.

The new kindergarten is part of the redevelopment project for the Sforzacosta school complex, the outcome of a competition held in 2022 and part of an initiative promoted by the ABF foundation, in collaboration with the municipality of Macerata, and aimed at responding to the shortage of educational spaces in the area. The project, which is composed in parts, saw the construction of the kindergarten-school building in 2023 and plans to complete the renovation of the elementary school and gymnasium buildings in 2024.

 

Client: ABF Andrea Bocelli Foundation
Project and art direction: BDR bureau
Team: Alberto Bottero, Simona Della Rocca
collaborators: Morena Gagliardi, Alina Salahoru

Construction supervision: Ing. Paolo Bianchi
Structures: Ing. Andrea Montagna
Systems and Sustainability: Serpilli Engineering
Acoustics advisor: Vibes srl
Pedagogue: Serafino Carli
Furniture design: BDR bureau