Copenhagen Kindergarten

Danish architects COBE have completed a daycare center in Copenhagen with curved corners, lush roof gardens and a special brick facade that gives the building a warm modern feel and at the same time reflects its historic surroundings.

COBE, Forfatterhuset Kindergarten, Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo Rasmus Hjortshøj

Five small houses with a unique brick cladding and green roofs and roof gardens create the framework for Copenhagen’s new kindergarten.

The kindergarten opened its doors in July 2014 and is the result of a competition held in 2012 won by Danish architects COBE in collaboration with PK3 landscape architects and D.A.I. engineers.

With this project, COBE wanted to create a world class day care center. A place that gives the best possible environment for our children to grow up in, and which promotes children’s learning and creativity. Located in a historic area of Copenhagen consisting mainly of nursing homes and senior housing, the project ensures a coherence between the historical area and the new build.

The facade of the kindergarten is a clear reference to the area’s red brick buildings. Instead of using traditional horizontal bricks, the facade consists of vertical brick lamellae continuing as a band from house to house, and surrounding the garden and playground. Besides being the building’s envelope, the facade thus works as a fence for the playground, protection at the roof tops and solar screening in front of the windows.

The facade gives a uniform expression and at the same time creates a modern interpretation and coherence with the area. The goal was to create a house that not only understands and shows consideration for its surroundings, but also contributes something radically new and different.

COBE, Forfatterhuset Kindergarten, Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo Rasmus Hjortshøj