Kindergarten Bärenhütte, Gießhübl

In March, we started working on our winning competition Kindergarten Bärenhütte in Gießhübl. The team is already fully occupied with the preliminary design work.

A new two-storey building for a childcare facility is being constructed on the site of the former Bärenhütte. Its capacities allow eight groups of preschoolers. We designed a closed building, which will be divided into four equal “houses”, which again, will be pushed against each other. In this way, each house will have an individual room for two kindergarten groups. If necessary, several group rooms can be combined by sliding walls.
The heart of the kindergarten is an atrium with stairs and seating steps that tempt you to linger. The open atmosphere is emphasised by a child-friendly colour scheme and a glazing above, which brings natural light down to the ground floor. From the central atrium, paths lead like open arms to the individual groups. The corridors are designed like small lounges. Thererfore the walls and common areas can also be used by the children in a variety of ways with seating niches and painting areas. The cloakrooms of the group rooms are located in the spaces in between, with a direct exit to the outdoor area.