Ledeer Daycare Center

Ledeer Daycare Center
toilet entry. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
classroom. Image © Hong Li

Ledeer Daycare Center 

Credohus

ARCHITECTS
Credohus

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Cihang Wang, Fangzhou Song, Jiancong Luo

MANUFACTURERS
Tarkett

DESIGN TEAM
Qingyue Liu, Donghua Huang

CLIENT
Leduit

CONSTRUCTION
Qingyuan Sunarts Decoration Co. Ltd.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Hong Li

AREA
280 M²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Guangzhou, China

CATEGORY
Day Care

In contemporary Chinese cities, a public space that allows parents to rest assured that their children are playing has become a scarce resource.

Ledeer Daycare Center
balcony. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
dinning room. Image © Hong Li

Ledeer, as a community-based child care institution, hopes to create a space in the community for children of different ages to play together, so that children can receive professional care, so as to give parents necessary personal time.

The project site is an 8m wide rectangular indoor space with natural light only on the north side.When there is no natural environment like sunlight, trees, grass or pools, how can children experience the fun of free play in a limited indoor space?

Ledeer Daycare Center
bedroom. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
art room. Image © Hong Li

Credohus designed the children's activity space as a public street, connecting functional rooms and large spaces placed at the end of the site.

A number of small wood houses of various sizes and shapes are arranged along the street to form a continuous boundary that surrounds the entire space, resembling a small village.

Ledeer Daycare Center
lobby. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
reception. Image © Hong Li

In order to achieve the balance between protection and connection, the wooden houses are designed to be semi-open, surrounded by walls to form corners.

The openings and small windows on the wall allow the child's body and sight to pass freely between the wooden houses.

Ledeer Daycare Center
public area outside bedroom. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
training room. Image © Hong Li

The inner height of the wooden houses varies from 1.5m to 1.9m. This is an uncomfortable height for adults, but it is cozy for children. It implies the child's status as the subject of the space.

Three warm colors of red, orange, and yellow are selectively painted on the interior of the wooden house, to bring children unique spatial memory and create a sense of belonging inside-out.

Ledeer Daycare Center
balcony. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
bedroom. Image © Hong Li

Over-protection of children is consciously avoided, the children need to establish a sense of risk through "moderate danger".

The height of the floor in the wood houses are intentionally distinguished, which means that children need to pay attention to the height change to avoid falling when entering different wood houses.

Ledeer Daycare Center
play zone. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
street. Image © Hong Li

At the same time, in order to balance safety and adventure, the sharp corners throughout the space are rounded with 1-2cm wide corners.

ThedesignofLedeer tries to achieve an informal organizational relationship that responds to the sociality of the child.

Ledeer Daycare Center
street. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
colors in wood houses. Image © Hong Li

It exposes people to a moderate chaos. There is no correct key to use each space. Therefore, teachers and children have to find themselves ways to establish new order.


Ledeer Daycare Center
magic corner. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
classroom door shut. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
toilet. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
look back at street. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
toilet. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center
main street . Image Courtesy of Credohus


Ledeer Daycare Center
classroom door open. Image © Hong Li
Ledeer Daycare Center


Ledeer Daycare Center
axonometric
Ledeer Daycare Center
elevation


Ledeer Daycare Center
concept sketch
Ledeer Daycare Center
plan


Ledeer Daycare Center
construction drawing
Ledeer Daycare Center
study model