Description of the project by Möhn + Bouman Architects
The project is part of a larger renewal of a small campus area for a community of people with disabilities. On the border Schiedam and its rural surroundings the campus comprises this newly renovated daycare centre along with a housing facility currently under design.
The centre has been stripped of unnecessary details and has been painted dark brown, and provided with high quality wooden terraces on all sides, which in turn are wrapped by a wooden screen. In keeping with the local environment, the screen is constructed from chestnut wood and blends into the rural atmosphere. At entrance areas, the screen’s shape adapts, and frames with printed glass cut into the wood, creating a sleek, modern contrast with the rougher, more agricultural material.
The glass prints, made by artist Carol Fulton, continue throughout the interior of the centre as they surround the new lobby in the heart of the building. They form a panoramic view of the coppiced chestnut grove, forming a visual association with the screens outside.
In the heart of the lobby a polyurethane drop rises from the floor. This contains the main kitchen and the sanitary units, and the material creates another tactile contrast. Due to the cognitive constraints of the primary users of the building, the sensory experience of their environment becomes exceptionally important. Incorporating this aspect of the client’s need, along with staging spatial experiences, was the key theme in the design process, resulting in what maybe could be coined ‘Performance Architecture.’
