HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro worked together to give young kids room for exploration and imagination at SH Kindergarten and Nursery in Toyama, Japan.

This is a kindergarten and nursery built newly for 125 children with the concept ‘Full of adventurous spirit and curiosity, surrounded by Tateyama mountain range’. From this site, people can look over the Tateyama mountain range which has been familiar to local people in Toyama. In the Tateyama mountain range, there are many kinds of climbing routes such as a rugged mountain path, open and wide, steep, gently sloped. Moreover, in these routes, we can meet various animals, plants, and beautiful nature.

This local characteristic and elements are taken into the kindergarten’s design, which stimulate children’s adventure spirit and curiosity. Then 10 playing areas are created. For example, narrow space like a rock cave, a long corridor like a tunnel, a net climbing like climbing up waterfall, a open space to look down a kitchen and dining room like a hill, the pond of picture books encircled by book shelves.

In this environment, children can discover everyday and create their own play like exploring in mountains. And also, they can have a good opportunity to know local characteristics.

Design: HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro
Photography: Ryuji Inoue