Forscherkindergarten / WINKENS Architekten

Architects: WINKENS Architekten
Location: Berlin, Germany
Project Team: Karl-Heinz Winkens, Marcel Klebs
Structural Engineering: Ingenieurbüro Rüdiger Jockwer GmbH
Civil Engineer: Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Laubinger
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 550 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of WINKENS Architekten

Bohnsdorf-Grünau, a Berlin evangelistic Church community, provided a plot for the project at the corner of Neptun Street to Schulzendorfer Street in Berlin, Germany. The plots level is even and partly settled with big trees. The border to the Neptun Street is marked by a small hill, surrounded by trees.

The architectonic concept relies on the base of the educational concept of the Kindergarden “Apfelbäumchen”. By considering the spacial conditions of the small hill and the trees, the linear one floor building was set orthogonal to the Neptun Street along the east border of the plot.

The linear building is centrally opened over a row of secondary rooms. The Entry is followed by a Foyer and a multi-purpose room which opens to the garden. The Kindergarden and the creche function like apartments and each are accesible from the foyer, strengthening the individuality of the two functions. The arrangement of the homerooms and the multi-purpose room underlines the linearity of the building.

The direct connection to the garden is one of the main focus. The multi-purpose room, in the center, functions as a pedagogical connection of the Kindergarden. The kindergarden and the creche have both a terrace at the end of the building which opens to the garden and helps to connect the rooms to the outside. The façade is made of brick, and the terrasses are made of wood. Natural materials characterize the buildings appearance, with the roof, extensively greened and partially used for solar energy. the appearance.