Silverdale Kindergarten

 

Silverdale Kindergarten was re – established together with the Silverdale School as part of the relocation on to the same site, moving with the school was very important for both the School and the Kindergarten to maintain and further develop the relationship between the two facilities .

 

The design strategy was to develop a large space that would allow the teachers a flexible teaching environment regardless of the weather. The open plan space is then further divided by activity, allowing smaller break away spaces, all within the main ‘play’ space. There is a strong connection between the outdoor active play area and the indoor spaces, with the flexibility of large sliding stacking doors allows the space to open up as required.

 

The single storey building is an attempt at creating a simple modern flexible space, all the structure has been designed to be kept in the outer walls allowing a freedom of use.

 

Glass has been used extensively to allow plenty of natural light and cross ventilation, and as an important visual connection for the teaching staff. The building materials have been selected for their robust nature, the use of timber weatherboards and corrugated iron contrasted well with the more modern building materials of honed concrete blocks and exposed steel work. Being a Kindergarten many allowances have been made within the scale of the building to relate to the inhabitants, with low level windows and lowered kitchen bench; allows an ease of use and provides a fun interactive learning environment. Internally the colours are a contemporary palette that allow the work of the children to be the main visual focus.