Cove 2 Preschool

Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew

COVE 2 PRESCHOOL

Lekker Architects

PHOTOS
Kong Chong Yew , Darren Soh , Lekker Design

BUDGET
$500k - 1m

STATUS
Built

AREA
25,000 Sqft - 100,000 Sqft

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Singapore

TYPE
Educational › Nursery

Cove 2 was intended to spark a new generation of preschools in Singapore. It embodies the idea that design can do much more to serve young children—that our youngest have a right to environments that will arouse their imagination and creativity.

Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew
Cove 2 Preschool
© Darren Soh

As with many Singaporean pre-schools, however, Cove 2 was sited within a somewhat generic office space, lacking many of the elements one would expect in a vibrant or attractive educational setting.

To create a sense of place, the designers at Lekker Architects returned to the classic image of the schoolhouse—actually re-constructing one within the neutral column-field of the office unit.

Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew
Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew

Teachers' offices and infant care rooms were imagined as the interior of this little building-within-a-building, set in a loose arrangement of windows and gables.

The space around the "house" becomes something like a schoolyard: four open-planned learning zones set under columns re-cast to resemble trees.

Cove 2 Preschool
© Darren Soh
Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew

Overhead, a drifting curvilinear trellis conceals services and evokes a sheltering bank of cloud.

Within this “schoolyard” there are a number of innovations. All furniture was custom designed, to support the teaching philosophy of Cove 2 and to promote the ergonomic needs of the students.

Tables and benches were manufactured at incremental sizes, so that students of different ages and stages could use them comfortably.

Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew
Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew
Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew

In addition to conventional classroom furniture, seating was re-imagined as a collection of soft topographical forms, rather than conventional chairs—allowing them to be occupied in a broad range of ways.

Because the windows of the original office unit are positioned above a child's eye-level, a periscope was developed that allows the students to look out.

An observation booth (for trainee teachers) is designed as a timber garden shed, and can be used by children who desire a quiet moment or an intimate space to retreat.

Cove 2 Preschool
© Kong Chong Yew


Cove 2 Preschool
© Lekker Design


Cove 2 Preschool
Cove 2 Preschool
© Lekker Design