Playing among light and colors. El Petit Príncep nursery school by Anna Codina i Associats

Description of project by Anna Codina i Associats

A stimulating but practical space, where lighting and versatility are priority elements. This was one of the main objectives at the time of converting this plot of just over one thousand square meters, located in 88 Degà Bahí Street in the Sant Martí neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​into a nursery. 

We built a kindergarten in a building that is not necessarily childish: evocative shapes and literary interpretations of this world are not proposed, instead a project that facilitates the daily activity of its small users (and the not so small ones) in a happy, comfortable and bright environment.

The project proposes a building entirely on a ground floor that constitutes a single elongated volume in a very disparate environment: on the one hand, it is surrounded by blocks of flats of different heights, with party walls that highlight this unevenness; on the other hand, a green area of ​​more than 5,000 square meters that protects the children's area from ​​one of the main access roads to the Catalan capital, the busy Meridiana avenue.

The main areas of the nursery (a multi-purpose room, classrooms and patio) are arranged in parallel, so that a visual relationship and transparency between them is created, as well as a play of colors and light. A long skylight allows the entrance of light into the multipurpose room, as well as proper cross ventilation.

The play space is a key element in a center for children. The classrooms (6 in total), located in the central part, are directly related to the multipurpose room and the patio area, forming a single large play space among lights and colors.

The project uses, as far as possible, materials with healthy, natural and recycled components, both in structural and constructive elements (iron structure, recycled gravel...) and in interior finishes (paintings, floors, etc.). The result: a healthy space full of light to grow up playing in.