Kindergarten in Selo
In the past few years, owing to a lack of available space or obsoleteness of existing edifices, Slovenia has received a number of new kindergartens – both autonomous new structures or extensions of existing ones. Despite the number of projects, they succeed in remaining fresh and innovative. Both architects and investors realise the crucial importance of a well structured, and more importantly, cozy place to serve as children's first second home.
The Selo kindergarten, a branch of the Ajdovščina kindergarten, designed by the young architectural group Minimart retains a distinct air of imaginativeness and innovation, despite its simplicity. The architects succeeded in creating an environment to which children gladly return.
The investor decided to remove the standing edifice from 1935 due to obsolescence, opting to erect a new building on the site, adjusted to more modern ways of teaching and living. The new structure retains the connection to the building on the northwestern side and has a floorplan larger than the existing one. The building is one story, without architectonic barriers that would impede access from the ground level. This allows unimpeded access to children, parents with baby carriages and handicapped individuals. The rooms are functionally designed with the age of the children in mind, and their layout is such to allow natural lighting of the rooms. The new edifice contains two playrooms for two different age groups: a playroom for the first age group, with a protected, covered outside atrium and a playroom for the second age group with an open (partly covered) outside atrium which continues into a playground. The atrium is shielded from bad weather and can be shaded. It also includes a lavatory, allowing easier surveillance over the children during playtime outdoors. The central space is designed chiefly for physical activities and performances for children. It is furnished with equipment that allows creation of small cozy corners as well as equipment for use in joint children-parents activities. This is also where the parents' corner is situated. The rooms are optimally connected so as to allow a great degree of supervision over the children.
The building blends seamlessly with the surrounding structures due to its pastel facade and its proportions. The shifted roof of the atrium provides for an interesting transition from the closed space of the playrooms into the open space of the playground, the creation of which that was also included within the ambit of the investment. The facade is decorated by designs of dandelion blowballs. The interior is largely pastel hued, with several decorative prints. The pastel hues are unobtrusive and subtle; they create a pleasing atmosphere for children as well as the local townspeople, who can employ the outdoor facilities in the afternoon. The dandelion clocks on the facade are a symbolic decoration, representing that most unique among flowers, unique as the children within the kindergarten, and the growth from flower to blowball symbolises those first steps of freedom that usher the way into a wider world.
