A building for happy children

The new DGNB-certified nursery in Bad Bederkesa in northern Lower Saxony is a true children’s paradise, with plenty of space in wonderful premises.

Photo: Olaf Wiechers, arkitekt

The green transition has long been a priority in Geestland Municipality, one of the ten largest municipalities in Germany by area. The municipality has received several awards, including the German Sustainability Award in 2018 and the local German sustainability prize "ZeitzeicheN."

When the Sonnenblume daycare center in Bad Bederkesa, costing approximately three million euros, was to be built, the municipality placed great emphasis on incorporating the green transition and chose to build using wood. The electricity is supplied by an air-source heat pump, and solar panels have been installed on the pitched roof. Inside the building, certified materials were also used. All of this has resulted in the new building being DGNB Gold-certified.

Plenty of light-flooded space

A total of 50 kindergarten and 15 day nursery children have plenty of space to play, romp and discover over an area of approx. 750 m2. Not only do the floor-to-ceiling windows let in lots of daylight, they also give the boys and girls an excellent view out of the spacious rooms. The bright, wide corridors also feature wide, box-shaped window sills set into the large glass façades which can be used for lounging or seating.

Sloping ceilings, wood and glass improve the quality of the environment

Copious glazing in the interior of the new-build gives the rooms an open, transparent feel. Light wooden frames around the windows and glass doors combined with white walls and light brown floors help create a relaxed, feel-good atmosphere. Furnishings and murals in warm yellow tones add colourful accents in keeping with the sunflower theme (Sonnenblume means ‘sunflower’ in German). While the rooms have high ceilings, these are partially sloping and boast exposed wooden beams, imparting a certain cosiness and offering a pleasant contrast to the white walls. This is strengthened by the Troldtekt acoustic panels, which are fitted between the rafters and considerably improve the quality of the learning environment in the nursery thanks to their acoustic properties.