Kindergarten Design Ideas

Open and Free Design

• In Tokyo, Japan, architects Yui Tezuka and Takaharu collaborated with Kashiwa Sato, a Japanese artist, to create a kindergarten with an open and free design. Instead of boxed structures, this particular kindergarten was built in a circular pattern, with no doors or partitions sealing off one classroom from the other. Sliding glass doors instead of flush doors and walls make learning an interactive process, with students from each classroom considering students in the other rooms as part of the learning experience.
  The roofs double as an extension of the courtyard play area, with railings to prevent children from falling to the first level. A slight incline to the flat roof encourages children to run around the second-level area. Each classroom can be outfitted with a sunroof that can be climbed up to using rope ladders to encourage strength building.

Patio-Connected Spatial Design

• This design is recommended for kindergarten schools with fewer than 10 classrooms. In Zargoza, Spain, architecture firm Magen Arquitectos built a kindergarten with a patio-connected spatial design. Each room is capped with pyramid domes with skylights, providing a sense of space. Covered walkways connect the classrooms.
  Each room is configured with large picture windows on one side and sliding glass doors on the other, with blinds blocking excessive sunlight. Tile floors feature various designs and hues. Tables are kept to a minimum to allow free interaction on the floor. Ceilings include geometric-shaped lighting fixtures.

Barnyard Design

• One innovative design was created by RRA, a group of architects in Norway. It displays an unusual but child-friendly and utilitarian construction. The Fargerborg Kindergarten in Oslo, Norway, makes practical use of wood and sunlight to create aesthetically pleasing structures that can reflect a child’s imagination. Instead of single-level flat structures, the roofs are uneven or irregularly inclined in places and windows are strategically positioned to allow natural lighting in. Administrative offices are housed in the second level and can be reached by colorful spiraling staircases that depict vibrancy and youthfulness.

Color-Defined Design

• Another kindergarten in Spain uses colors and lighting as the main design for the whole structure. Created by architect Alenjandro Munoz Mirands, the Educational Center en El Chaparral in Granada, Spain, uses lights and colored glasses to highlight communal spaces linked by brilliant color splashes on the walls instead of flat and harsh white light. Its glass doors and wide flowing spaces also readily open into each other. The lighting fixtures are geometrically configured, and walls are inlaid with innovative tile designs.