Kindergarten GALAXIE eR Varnsdorf

The new GALAXIE eR kindergarten for 50 children (eR as JOY) responds to the growing need for new preschool capacities in the town of Varnsdorf in the Šluknov region. The building is located at the corner defined by Western Road and the path leading to Edison School.

The kindergarten itself is a single-story brick building with a regular elliptical floor plan and an internal elliptical atrium, which is roofed with a flat green roof structure with a low parapet, or a raised part of the roof above the multifunctional hall. The shape of the building was designed with regard to the surrounding buildings, existing communication relationships, its corner position, and also the orientation of the plot, in order to ensure sufficient sunlight for the interior spaces and atrium and to allow views of the surrounding landscape and the adjacent forest park. The positioning of the building has created a quality public space in front of the kindergarten with elliptical green islands, also allowing for natural pedestrian communication.

The organic shape of the kindergarten reflects openness, freedom of movement, harmony, and beauty – essential "nourishment" for the human spirit, desirable for the development of children. Inside the building, a green atrium opens up with newly planted cherry trees, creating a peaceful place for children's comfort and play. Its design symbolizes the idea of an idyllic garden and the pure soul of a child. The visual and physical connection of the atrium with the adjacent garden further evokes the image of children stepping from paradise into the surrounding world.

The internal layout of the kindergarten consists of two separate sections for 25 children each, with the necessary operational and hygienic facilities, its own catering facility, and a multifunctional hall situated at the imagined center of the kindergarten. The hall can be used for organizing performances and movement activities of the children within the kindergarten's operation, as well as for cultural events and activities during extracurricular hours. The hall is separated from the neighboring classrooms by mobile sliding panels, allowing flexible changes to the entire space according to needs. The classrooms and playrooms, or rest areas for children, symmetrically oriented in the side wings of the kindergarten, are designed as an open space bordered externally by built-in atypical furniture with shelves for toys, built-in wardrobes, mobile containers, and integrated strip and frameless square windows installed at the children's eye level with views into the adjacent garden.

The interiors of the kindergarten are designed as a neutral environment combining light gray floors made of natural linoleum, light birch plywood of the built-in atypical furniture with integrated frameless windows, white walls, and acoustic perforated ceilings with circular light fixtures, allowing the individual color accents of play elements and standard furniture as well as the adjacent garden with birches and blooming cherry trees to stand out. Thanks to the full-height glazing oriented towards the courtyard with strip and square windows in the outer shell, the garden becomes an ever-present part of the interiors, completing the unified harmonious environment of the entire kindergarten.