When, in early 2010, the Parish of St. Josef in the Bavarian town of Altötting commissioned us to design a crèche, we were over the moon: ourselves parents of toddlers, we could not imagine any more delightful or intriguing a challenge.
The available site was a narrow strip of land between the parish hall and a neighbouring primary school. This all but dictated the form of the future crèche as an elongated, single-storey, gable-roofed structure. Our solution provided for two group rooms, at the northern and southern ends of the building, intermediate service and functional spaces, plus a central entrance area with access to the staff office and social spaces at attic level.
The facade is punctuated by a number of projecting “boxes”, which, apart from adding vibrantly coloured focal points to the interior, break up the massing and provide badly needed extra space.
The available site was a narrow strip of land between the parish hall and a neighbouring primary school. This all but dictated the form of the future crèche as an elongated, single-storey, gable-roofed structure. Our solution provided for two group rooms, at the northern and southern ends of the building, intermediate service and functional spaces, plus a central entrance area with access to the staff office and social spaces at attic level.
The facade is punctuated by a number of projecting “boxes”, which, apart from adding vibrantly coloured focal points to the interior, break up the massing and provide badly needed extra space.