BUNDOORA CHILDCARE CENTRE
Located on a challenging, steep site, Bundoora Childcare Centre incorporates a retained heritage cottage and a new building with exciting elements that prioritise a child’s experience of the built space.
A CHILDCARE CENTRE IN URBAN MELBOURNE
There’s a strong demand for childcare in Melbourne, though the industry can often be more difficult than it first seems. Developers are often tackling difficult sites where residential developments don’t stack up by opting to build a childcare centre instead. This often means childcare centres are located on difficult sites with a plethora of design constraints that need to be responded to in order to ensure that the facility will foster a safe and enjoyable environment for children to learn in.
One of the essential issues at the beginning of the design process was finding the most effective way to refurbish the heritage cottage with minimal intervention to allow it to be repurposed into an interesting childcare space. The priority was to have the cottage relate to the outside while also linking to the new, more program-intense new building.
For this project, Gardiner Architects was engaged by the developer who is a large property trust that specialises in childcare. The architectural proposal and resulting building costs had to reflect the long-term rental agreement that the developer and operator had established. This can often prove challenging, especially on difficult sites. Architectural skill is paramount to find ways to maximise the number of children that can be accommodated, make the building as efficient and therefore as cheap as possible, while also ensuring that it’s the best design outcome for the children who are going to be attending the centre.
CREATING ENGAGING OUTDOOR PLAY SPACES
The number of children that the development deal was based on meant a design issue arose around how to provide adequately sized, integrated and varied outdoor environments.
Elevated outdoor play spaces were identified as a necessity, though it was important to ensure that these spaces moved away from the feel of verandahs hemmed in by high glass balustrades. A strong characteristic of the design became the tensioned mesh that runs right around the elevated outdoor areas. The design is first and foremost about the children and mesh is a more tactile, interesting and engaging surface. It also allows the children to be safe while prioritising more connection to the elements and surrounding views.
It was important to provide spaces that were adaptable, so they can be changed to house a range of different activities while also responding to the variation in seasonal and day-to-day weather conditions. The mesh creates a blending of playground and building. It becomes a moving and changing facet of the building experienced not only from within but from beyond. The mesh also allows for interaction between the raised outdoor spaces and the ground level outdoor space surrounding the cottage.
THE AESTHETIC
Internal spaces were designed to be flexible rather than too contrived or rectilinear. This allowed the operator and their staff to change the internal environment to suit different play activities expanding the possibilities of how the one room can be utilised and in turn extending the lifespan of the built space.
The palette of the project prioritised longevity and flexibility. Colour was used in a restrained way, most often to act as a visual identifier. The doors to activity rooms are painted a deep blue while strong toned tiles distinguish the kitchen as well as the children’s bathrooms. The rest of the colour can be infused into the spaces through the play equipment and art made by the children.
Architecture doesn’t have to compete with the range of elements and activities within a children’s learning space. It can instead set the backdrop for the people who
are taking care of the children, providing a changeable environment and avoiding creating an over-stimulating space. In terms of outdoor play areas, spaces that allow for active, cognitive and dramatic play don’t need to be too prescriptive. Architects must work with landscape architects to create outdoor areas that have a natural aesthetic that allow children possibilities to explore, be challenged and find new, imaginative ways to use the elements they’re provided. A few logs can be balancing beams one moment and form a story circle the next.
SPACES THAT FOSTER FOOD EDUCATION
One design feature that the operator prioritised was having the kitchen and a healthy eating program as an integral part of the children’s daily activities. Therefore, the kitchen was positioned next to the entry to the centre. Surrounded by glass, the chef is visible and everyone can enjoy the smells of the food being prepared.
The kitchen is connected to a dining area and courtyard with a kitchen garden. It was great to work with an operator that saw healthy eating and food education as a fundamental element to the centre’s functioning.
SUSTAINABILITY
A range of sustainable elements were incorporated into the project. A 60,000 litre underground water tank helps to effectively process stormwater while also being utilised for the flushing of toilets and garden irrigation. PV cells on the roof generate electricity, while the whole building is very well insulated which decreases the demand on heating and cooling requirements. The building’s orientation allows an adequate amount of north sun into the building while the hot western sun is managed through the introduction of motorised pergolas. The building really becomes an organism that can be adjusted to suit the different weather conditions the children and carers find themselves in.
Overall, the main sustainable measure undertaken in this project was the adaptive reuse of old building stock. In this case, the approach was to retain the heritage cottage externally, only adjusting things where the new use ultimately forced it.
Knocking out walls to make bigger areas was avoided, instead creating openings through walls. This created spaces that retained the feel of an old home and resulted in a feel that is more homely and in turn more identifiable for children.
A few logs can be balancing beams one moment and form a story circle the next.