St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Stairs, Facade, HandrailSt. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Stairs, Windows, Facade, HandrailSt. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 4 of 20St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 5 of 20St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - More Images+ 15

Münster, Germany
St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Stairs, Windows, Facade, Handrail
© Markus Hauschild

Text description provided by the architects. The elegant form of the elliptical nave physically anchors its surrounding neighbourhood. Now deconsecrated the logical investment driven choice would have been for St. Sebastian to disappear. Bravely the 2009 competition jury awarded the first prize to the BOLLES+WILSON scheme which envisaged the characteristic form given a new life and function – a kindergarten framed and shielded by site perimeter housing (2nd construction phase).

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 5 of 20
© Markus Hauschild

The lower levels of the church now host a kindergarten with three group rooms on the ground floor and two groups on the first floor. The roofs of these become all-weather play decks – inside the church walls but climatically an outside space. The existing facade is perforated by a grid of 50 x 50 cm openings, which – now open – provide a constant and healthy ventilation through this inside/outside “playroom“. Cold in winter, comfortably temperate in summer, but always dry, now the kids can play outside all-the-year round. The original roof needed replacement, now industrial skylights flood the entire play deck with natural light. In the twilight street lights illuminate this magical playground and give the impression of a public space.

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 4 of 20
© Markus Hauschild

The walls of this playroom carry 140 m2 of acoustic panels – 30 x 60 cm ‘sauerkraut’ pixels outlining an elephant, a snake and a giant crocodile. Grass green impact-protection flooring – usually used for sports fields – extend the interior green-on-green concept to the outside play deck. Embedded in the floor giant hand- and footprints suggest a play with scales.

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 11 of 20
© Markus Hauschild

A new tapering extension with multipurpose room mediates between reprogrammed church and street – it houses kitchen, offices, technical rooms and one big multipurpose room. Here a glazed entrance zone – with facing mothers waiting bench – leads to both kindergarten and these adjacent spaces, which can also be used externally – for neighbourhood events.

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Stairs, Facade, Handrail
© Markus Hauschild

External play spaces include a bobby-car circuit and a play house which doubles as second escape route from the inner play decks.

St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON - Image 14 of 20
First Floor Plan

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Address:Münster, Germany

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Cite: "St. Sebastian Kindergarten / BOLLES+WILSON" 27 Jun 2013. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/392652/st-sebastian-kindergarten-bolles-wilson> ISSN 0719-8884

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