Interior design as part of education

Lack of space in large cities and the high demand for daycare places pose challenges for architects when planning kindergartens. Group rooms, playrooms, corridors and entrance areas are simply combined into multi-purpose rooms due to the limited space available. But not only the room layout needs to be well-thought-out. Design plays an important role in ensuring that the various functional corners are separated from one another. To use the room and interior design as part of education, as recommended by numerous pedagogical concepts since Maria Montessori, planners should pay attention to a few factors. Since walls, windows and doors provide colour, acoustics and light in the room, they have an enormous influence on the atmosphere. So with a well-thought-out choice of building elements, a concept can be created that gives children freedom and security.

These two factors are by no means mutually exclusive: Skylights, for example, flood the rooms with light, making them appear larger and friendlier. With enough space, children can go on a discovery tour and get to know their surroundings. Meanwhile, brightness signals a sense of security to the children. If they can see their surroundings, play partners and caregivers clearly, they feel more secure when exploring and playing. With a suitable colour scheme and other details, the room becomes a child-friendly place to learn. We will show you how this can look like in practice with the following feel-good places for young and old: child-friendly design with daylight.

The daycare centre of the Bavarian Red Cross in Hof is a good example of how several functional areas can be combined in one room. Beneath the eleven-meter long LAMILUX Glass Roof PR60 you find a parents' waiting area, a play stage and the children's restaurant. Since the daycare centre follows an open concept, the children can choose how they spend their day. So, they meet up to eat, play and learn in the atrium. The glass roof illuminates the room naturally, so that the children can find their way around easily and cope with their everyday life safely. "Thanks to this, the children can learn in a relaxed way, we don't have to deal with the stimuli of artificial light, the atmosphere is flooded with brightness - it is simply a perfect atmosphere here," reports Tanja Steinhäuser, head of the daycare centre.

The "Wolke 10" daycare centre is not located at any of the usual locations. At a height of 16 meters, the daycare centre is located on a Nuremberg car park above the city's buildings. The building has already received several awards for its unique architecture and creative design. Simultaneously, the daycare centre offers an ideal play and learning environment for the little ones. In the outdoor area the children have the opportunity to let off steam together in the open air. And inside they also continue their activities with joy and curiosity. The bright rooms create a pleasant atmosphere for children and staff. Even in the dressing room, which has no side windows, the LAMILUX Glass Skylight FE provides sufficient daylight. The colourful cladding of the upstand fills the room with a warm, orange light and thus dispenses love of life and a good mood.

The daycare center "Fortunate Future" in Sömmerda also makes the children's everyday life more colorful. The multi-purpose room connects the group rooms and creates a place for creativity and joint learning. The room's eye-catcher: Seven circular LAMILUX Glass Skylights F100. The different sizes of the skylights, ranging from 80 to 180 centimeters in diameter, ensure a playful and child-friendly design. The colorful borders and the integrated LED lighting provide the multi-purpose room with friendly color accents that match perfectly this creative space. Since the environment influences the behavior of its users, the room encourages them to play, dream and think.

The kindergarten "St. Severin" in Garching chose a simple and natural design. The wood panelling inside gives the room a bright and cosy atmosphere. The curved roof and a total of 22 circular LAMILUX Glass Skylights F100 are architectural highlights. These features alone strengthen the child's sense of harmony and aesthetics. The light coming in from above also conjures an interesting interaction of light and shadow that keeps changing during the day. This way, a small piece of nature gets inside the building and the children observe any type of weather event. Since the skylights are partly equipped with ventilation flaps, the children are not only provided with daylight but also with fresh air.

The nursery in Wiggensbach combines natural materials and bright colour accents. The building is clad with regional wood inside and outside and thus fits perfectly into its environment. Floor-to-ceiling windows and two LAMILUX Glass Roofs PR60 bring sufficient daylight into the group rooms and the play corridor. Here, too, the space is used optimally by making the corridor a meeting place for the children. Thanks to numerous glass surfaces, the children always remain near their friends and educators. The group rooms, the exercise room and the staff area all come in a bright, natural design, which the architects livened up with large coloured areas in the wash and dressing rooms. Thus, each group has its colour and the children find their place without any problems. Playfully the little ones get to know the colours, how to distinguish between them and what meaning they have in the daycare centre. This encourages the independence of the kids, who also like to let off steam on the spacious outdoor area of the daycare centre, if the weather allows.

Find more daylight projects in daycare centres, kindergartens and schools at LAMILUX4kids.