Nursery School Santa Isabel

The Santa Isabel kindergarten in Zaragoza represents one part of the city program for the construction of public buildings. Together with kindergartens in the neighborhoods of Oliver, La Paz, and Actur (all projects of the C|F office), Santa Isabel completes the educational core of the mentioned program.
We approached each of the projects with the awareness that the main inhabitants would be children. Therefore, we tried to be particularly sensitive to the needs of very young girls and boys. The result is simple, bright, and flowing spaces; comfortable yet providing protection.
The Santa Isabel project is composed of two box-like volumes made of concrete and glass. One contains the educational program (classrooms, sleeping rooms, and a multipurpose hall), while the other encompasses the service functions (kitchen, teachers' room, technical spaces).
The box-like volumes are closed on the north side, thus protecting them from adverse weather conditions and the street. They open towards the playground and light to the south with a façade entirely made of copilit glass. The main entrance is located in the section that connects both main volumes on the west side.
Inside, a height of 1.2 meters defines the boundary between the adapted children's world and the adult environment. A clear example is the washable baseboard that is 1.2 meters high, which gives space to "children's creativity" without prejudice regarding the maintenance of the building. All devices unsuitable for children are always placed above this height line.
The educational space is divided into three age groups. Each unit is connected to a small patio, which also serves as a divider. The units are separated by variable walls that partition classrooms, allowing for possible connections or spatial changes in case of a change in educational practice. Attached bedrooms and bathrooms are designed for both configurations.
In the composition of materials, wood plays a dominant role. Not only in its use for carpentry work or floors, but also as a kind of memento or element of absence – manifested in the texture of wooden cladding on concrete walls. The idea of rhythmic alternation of the façade's surface continues in the fencing of the plot with sheets of bent and perforated steel plate.
The first rough impression of the kindergarten's exterior contrasts with the manifestation of light in the interior, where subtle variations in illumination, play with longitudinal views, and the rhythm of patios direct the composition of volumes towards a protected courtyard.

Carroquino | Finner Arquitectos