Grouped together methodically, eleven monochromatic volumes form Frederiksvej Kindergarten, located on a small residential area in Denmark’s capital. COBE has collaborated with Preben Skaarup Landscape Architects, Søren Jensen Engineers and Learning Spaces Consultants to design a “village setting for children” that offers ample space for young kids to learn and play.

About two weeks ago, a community celebrated the official completion of COBE’s sprawling 1.700 square meter kindergarten. In 2011, the firm’s concept for the school garnered first place in a competition, and has since taken shape as a unique milieu that establishes a cohesive layout for children and staff. “We wanted to create a kindergarten in a class of its own. A place that provides the best possible settings for our children to grow up in, and promote their learning and creativity”, mentioned the Danish firm. “Today there is a tendency towards building bigger and bigger kindergartens. But it is important for us to create intimacy and space for the children’s small worlds in the kindergarten, where they spend a large part of their day.”

Fostering a sense of community has been an integral aspect of COBE’s concept for the modern kindergarten. The notion of a small-village setting has been reinforced with a strategic floor plan that makes room for approximately 182 children. House-shape blocks stand at different orientations, designating areas for two winter gardens, two atriums, sections for storage, and plenty of room for kids to invent their own play niches.

House-shape blocks stand at different orientations, designating areas for two winter gardens, two atriums, sections for storage, and plenty of room for kids to invent their own play niches.

Dan Stubbergaard, the Founder and Creative Director of COBE, has described “diversity” as a key element to envisioning Frederiksvej Kindergarten’s setting. “We have created a variety of rooms, which are supporting diverse types of activities for the children in all seasons.”

An aerial view of Frederiksvej Kindergarten shows an intriguing facility, one that almost echoes an imagined town made of building blocks or Lego. The exterior aesthetic of the kindergarten teeters on something austere, yet there’s a definite playfulness to Frederiksvej ‘s village-like setting.

The structures on the school’s premise form modest, orderly silhouettes- much like a child’s sketch of an arbitrary home.

The structures on the school’s premise form modest, orderly silhouettes- much like a child’s sketch of an arbitrary home. Dan Stubbergaard reinforced the notion, stating “we have worked to create a simple expression as a caricature of how a child might draw a house. The roofline for example, is kept uncluttered by means of hidden drains and precise material connections, and the windows are carefully designed to look frameless – as a child would maybe draw them”.

The whitewashed interiors of the kindergarten appear bright and open, welcoming illumination from the numerous skylights and large windows that speckle the blockhouses. The two atriums on both ends of the school provide ample room for children, employees and parents to mingle. Both of these buildings offer large interior balconies that are enclosed by clear Plexiglas, allowing kids to roam safely.

Frederiksvej Kindergarten is an ideal hub for children to learn, play, and respectively develop their own unique personalities. The environment that COBE has created for the school’s attendees derives optimal functionality from its simple, modern design (and also allows for that short-lived journey through kindergarten to be all the more pivotal).