The construction of a modern kindergarten inspired by the De Stijl style in southern Poland is coming to an end. The project skilfully combines energy-saving materials, unique architecture, and a child-friendly and inspiring space.

A quiet street in the green district of Bielsko-Biala in the south of Poland was chosen for the location of the kindergarten. Nearby there are recreational areas, which are undoubtedly an asset of this place. The investment was decided to be implemented using an existing single-family building. Built in the Canadian style, it allowed for further expansion with the use of wood frame construction technology. Its durability was ensured by the use of local materials, including glued wood.

The biggest challenge was to modify the existing block so that it would fit into the context of multi-dwelling blocks visible in the background and the neighbourhood of single-family buildings dominating in the area.

In an attempt to unite these seemingly mutually exclusive orders, the modernist solutions of the Dutch De Stijl style were used, according to which the dominant elements are straight lines, rectangular shapes and three colours - yellow, blue and red.

After the analysis, the most appropriate solution for the project turned out to be a building with the letter "L" on the plan. Thanks to such a layout - from the street side, the object looks modern, giving the impression of a flat roof and optically referring to the block building in the background. From the inner courtyard, the form reduces its scale by discovering a multi-gable roof.

The adaptation of the residential facility to the new function according to the regulations applicable to public buildings was undertaken by the well-known Polish studio Archas Design. In addition, solutions were introduced, thanks to which the building communicates with the recipients not only in form, but also in material. The use of polished sheet metal panels at the level of the last floor gave the body a mirror effect, which, reflecting the reflections of the sky on the facade, dematerializes the building.

- This solution allowed to optically reduce the volume from the side of the street, where we had to compose it with the context of tall buildings, at the same time not dominating the scale of the immediate neighbourhood of lower intensity. The camouflage of the last floor allowed us to place the kindergarten in both contexts - explains the architect Maciej Zuber, head of the Archas Design office.

The use of Siberian larch board on lower facades and attractive colour solutions of window frames, which break the body irregularly, refer to the best standards for this type of public facilities known from the Netherlands. This approach to architecture should not be surprising, because the investor of the kindergarten is Radek Legal, which for many years has been operating on the Dutch market, where it successfully implements similar projects.

The main idea of the design assumption was also to create a human-friendly place. Already at the threshold of the kindergarten, attention is drawn to large glazing, through which daylight falls deep into the building. Like the creation of a natural atmosphere inside, the functional layout of the building's surroundings had an important reference to the sides of the world. The building located in the northern part of the plot releases the sunny southern part, which was allocated to the garden and playground.

In a two-storey kindergarten with a total area of 300 sq. m, there are five teaching rooms, cloakrooms, administration, and social rooms. They plan to host 50 children.