Municipal Nursery of Rafelbunyol / Victor García Martínez

Architects: Victor García Martínez
Area: 1430.0 sqm
Year: 2009
photographs: Diego Opazo

May 07, 2013

Text description provided by the architects. The conception of Rafelbunyol’s Nursery focused on resolving properly all the basic necessities of a building this kind, putting special attention on the design and layout of the most important spaces in these buildings, the classrooms.

So that all classrooms have the same orientation and relative position, the building scheme is based on parallel strips, adjusting the dimensions and specific location to optimize sun gains, as well as the position and occupation on the plot.

Classrooms are laid in four strips. One of them is longer to strengthen the parking area limit and all of them are linked transversally by another longitudinal slab that allocates the main circulations, the service pieces and the installation area. This longitudinal slab has a lower external height therefore the user has a perception of the whole organization of the facility just with a glimpse at its elevation.

Each classroom requires an exterior space that is configured in the same way than the interior, by strips. Thereby there is an outdoor area, perfectly limited and parallel to the classrooms where kids can play under the shade of a textile cover that can be folded when needed.

In order for children to recognize their classrooms easily, in the whole nursery there has been applied a four color code that is structured by strips too. These colors are used on the floors, windows joinery, furniture and also on the outdoor rubber pavements, in the micro-perforated meshes of row windows and in the fencing of the plot.

The design is characterized by a special attention to the metric control in every sense. The size of windows and cantilevers are calculated to optimize the solar gain, the distance from the floor to the windows varies to give little kids a proper view of the outside. All of this adjusted to a strictly studied modulation imposed by the building technique of precast concrete walls.

This system requires a detailed design of all installations, including the location of luminaries, sockets and switches because the panels are manufactured with all holes provided. Thanks to the accurate design, the execution time is significantly reduced and the interior finish of the concrete walls is very good.