New Montessori Daycare Center

Innovative Montessori daycare center in Borken

The city of Borken has been enjoying increasing numbers of children for years. In order to meet the requirements and wishes of young families, significant investments have been made in the childcare infrastructure. One component of the various measures is support for the construction of a 4-group daycare center for Montessori. The owner of Montessori has been actively running a children's home in Borken for over 35 years. Due to the spatial disadvantages at the old location, a plot of land has now been built on in the industrial park of the city of Borken, which, due to its size and location on the outskirts of the city, offers an ideal place for childcare.

With the plot of land in the industrial park, the owner and the city of Borken are taking a new approach to meet the requirements of reconciliation between child and work.

The location on the Lunsberg and Hombornquelle nature reserves offers the ideal setting for the new building. For children and educators, the location offers extensive exploration and adventure tours through the adjacent meadows and forest landscapes.

Since the architecture should be in dialogue with the surrounding area, it was also obvious that the ecological approach should also be reflected in the construction method when choosing the plot of land. With Holzbau Schöttler, a company was won that can look back on many years of experience in timber construction.

In collaboration with the educators, the parents' initiative and the planners, a building has been created which not only addresses ecological but also educational requirements. The focus is on the child in order to develop freely and independently and to be able to take the decisive steps of their emotional and spiritual growth.

The building consists of four classic houses. These are connected together by a latch. Each group lives in one of these four houses, which contain all the rooms required by the fiber optic space program. The large group room opens onto the outdoor area and also offers children eye contact with the other group houses.

The open and light-filled construction, combined with the open roof structure, enables a second level, each of which can be reached via a wooden staircase. Here you can find retreats for the children and individual games on offer. The different perspectives of the outdoor area and the playmates reinforce the feeling of freedom and unlimited possibilities.

The large window fronts offer a view of nature and the opportunity to see the surrounding area in all its facets at any time of the year.

The connecting bar is designed as a flat roof and ends on one side in the multi-purpose room and on the other side in the group room for children under 3 years of age. The corridor is a meeting and exercise center, cloakroom and meeting place for children, parents and educators. The size and design of the area offers a wide range of uses.

The groups open up to this bar and enable children to exchange ideas with each other, regardless of their age.

In addition to the spacious corridor and the dirt locks, which provide access to the outdoor area between the respective houses, the connecting block also houses the adjoining rooms. In addition to the sanitary rooms, staff and storage rooms, there is a professionally equipped kitchen, in which food is freshly prepared every day.

Of the four classic group houses, the group with the eldest children stands out. The height of this part of the building is such that a second level offers space for the necessary staff rooms. In addition to the recreation room for employees, a meeting room for general requirements and the laundry rooms, the area also offers a gallery for the group of Ü3 children.

In contrast to the other three houses, this building is pierced with respect to the crossbar and thus enables it to function as a main entrance.

The three lower gable roof houses end on the roof surface of the low-rise building without having crossed the corridor again first. The gable roof gives the corridor a sense of space and at the same time makes it possible to illuminate and ventilate the corridor areas through triangular windows in the gable of the houses.

The building is characterized by the interplay between light and height. And due to the typology of the classic single-family home, the child appears to live in their own four walls.

The structural bodies are materially separated from one another. As a connecting element, the bolt is made more massive in its materiality than the façade of the four houses.

The brick holds together the open and lightweight structures of the gable roof buildings. On the other hand, there is the wooden cladding of the group houses.

The choice of colors is subtly selected.

If there is still a rather closed, massive structure from the access road, it takes on an open and light character when viewed from the outdoor area. It is this feeling of security and freedom that is also the core idea and basic idea of Maria Montessori. Their main goal was to educate children to become independent and self-confident, which would be of great advantage to them in their later life.

What are the special advantages of this property?

The building was primarily created in collaboration between subsequent users and the planner. And this is precisely where a major advantage of the building lies. It is perfectly tailored to the needs of the user — the small children, who discover themselves here over the years, learn to walk, make their first friendships and end up leaving home as independent and self-confident children.

The building is child-friendly, but not childish. It offers little ones the opportunity to find themselves and to help shape the environment. The color scheme is therefore adapted to these ideas.

What were the challenges of the project?

As is so often the case, this project was also faced with a lack of time. As a result of the lengthy planning phase with some interruptions, lost time had to be made up for in the construction and implementation of the property.

The timber frame construction and the associated high degree of prefabrication in weather-independent production halls ensured the completion date at the end of the year right from the start.

For example, the finished wall elements were delivered and installed with interior and exterior cladding in the timber cladding area.

Thanks to the modular construction and preliminary planning in construction phases, roofing and plumbing work began on the first construction phase during the construction of the third construction phase.

This idea of construction phases was also consistently followed in interior design in order to ensure a smooth and timely construction process.

When selecting craft businesses, local companies were taken into account in order to meet the ecological concept here as well. The strong ties between craft companies and the city and Montessori enabled effective cooperation.

But in particular, the building owner, the Montessori-Fördergemeinschaft Borken e.V. and the volunteers working here as part of construction supervision are noteworthy here.

The building is a lighthouse project for the region. Not only because of the special location in the industrial park, but also because of the prefabrication and quality of the timber structure.

The short construction period and the perfect indoor climate within the new daycare center show the main advantages of timber construction.