Kollegi nursery
The Foundation is dedicated to people with developmental damage, with mental disabilities or with mental health difficulties. Alongside educational and housing opportunities for this purpose new specific workplaces were needed.
The architectural expression of the two new buildings, determined by the urban situation (settlement boundary, flood area), recalls the one on vernacular farm buildings made of wood and filigree, traditional pavillions. Both volumes are organized on one level and each covered with a large, protective roof.
The bigger part of the rooms of the main building are raised from the entrance level based on the flood control regulation. The resulting floating appearance of the volume adds an extra lightness. The construction of the two new buildings is similar structured. While the base plate and the inner bearing walls are of solid construction (concrete and masonry), the facade and the roof are made of wood. According to this structure, all serving areas (toilets, equipment, dressing rooms, storage, etc.) are at the core of the respective volume. The public spaces (shop, work space, etc.) are grouped around the serving core in the outer layer, along the facade overlooking the garden. An additional mobile partition in the hall and the possibility of different ways outside but also inside the building make it possible that different dispositions can be kept open.
The outer wooden shell is painted with an aubergine colour with micaceous iron oxide. This colour takes back the appearance of the two buildings, similar to old wooden economic structures in the surrounding, but contrasting harmoniously with the lush green of the plants. Depending on the weather and daytime, the colour of the building changes in a range of reds and browns. The interior concrete walls are stained in earthy tones and thus refer to the color-specific building project. The floor is laid out in a kind of natural stone mosaic fragments that look like dried clods and give the main rooms elegance. The ceiling is made of light blue wooden slats, which guarantees the spaces a pleasant room acoustics.
