xystudio used thoughtful colors and a simple design to promote play and exploration at the Nursery in Wesola of Warsaw, Poland.

Nursery in Wesoła is not only a small and nice facility intended for children. It is an example of sustainable design that combines two completely different trends that we encounter every day. Trends in which the main recipient is a child (private institutions) or a guardian (public institutions).

In this project, we tried to combine two seemingly contradictory concepts in order to achieve a balance in the needs of recipients and employees. We have designed an economical, efficient space without losing space for winding corridors and staircases. We convinced the commune to use solutions popular in private institutions, such as shared bathrooms accessible from the rooms and catering facilities. All this to fit 3 full-size rooms for children in the small space we had.

Thanks to these solutions, we had funds for the surroundings – roofed terraces shading large windows, a comfortable entrance zone and a safe square in front of the building.

The plan is extremely simple – through the covered patio (here we can leave the prams, ride-ons and scooters) we enter the hall with the cloakroom and the rooms. There is no wandering, no searching. You can see everything, a clear spatial code combined with a color code facilitates communication.

Fully glazed rooms connect children with nature, give them the freedom to observe nature. Wooden exterior cladding enters the rooms, blurring the boundary between the room and the garden. Roof skylights let in diffused, natural light illuminating the deeper zones of the room.

The magic of this place are trees – soaring, old pines. We really wanted to keep as many of them as possible, because they provide shade, and shade is safe to play outdoors.

The façade of the building was supposed to be just a background. The natural colors of the facade and dark flashings make the building smaller. Low roofs, as in each of our projects, adjust the building to the recipient’s growth. Only inside the block grows and the high interior is illuminated by numerous skylights.

The elevation from the side of the playground is lost, our saved trees are reflected in the large windows, the brown color combines with graphite just like the bark of a tree. Probably that’s why it’s difficult to take a picture of the building from this side, it was supposed to disappear and even in the lens.

A large corner terrace is used for children’s porch, the side terrace is for prams, which are needed during the adaptation period, children often fall asleep in them.

The area between the trees is a playground. For younger children, we have a safe surface, the older ones play on the grass between the trees. From the side of the kindergarten, along the façade there is a winding “musical path”. This is a help for the caregivers – taking out 25 toddlers is not easy, this solution with cymbals and drums is to make it easier for them to make their way more interesting – after all, it’s fun to hit the biggest drum!

We also have a “car wash” on the playground. Here we can wash our hands, draw water to play with mud. Faucets with pets are especially for them.

In front of the nursery there is a square and a small hill, because, as we know, after leaving the nursery, you have to run for a while.

The building is very small and intimate, it results only from the provisions of the Local Plan. It stands on a small plot of land covered with soaring pines.

Design: xystudio
Design Team: Filip Domaszczyński, Marta Nowosielska, Dorota Sibińska, Anna Prałat
Photography: courtesy of xystudio