Nursery School in Lattecaldo

This project consists on the extension of the school complex in Lattecaldo with a new nursery building. The existing building, designed by Swiss architect Finzi, is perfectly integrated in its surrounding landscape. Its massing reproduces the richness of the geographic context. At the same time, its location within the site offers a variety of open spaces on its surroundings for the students to use. Each of these open spaces enjoys specific characteristics, suitable for a wide diversity of activities.

The inclusion of the new nursery extension can therefore only take place in continuity with the existing volumetric and spatial discourse, further improving the area and completing its development. The new building grows in harmony with the existing one, reproducing its volumetric richness through a game of pitched roofs with different sizes and orientations.

A large south-facing playground area precedes the building along its main entry route. The north-south body of the main building, which runs from the gymnasium to the singing room, is once again re-established as the central axis for the entire complex. The east-west body is extended eastwards with the addition of the new refectory and the new nursery school extension. This organizes the open spaces in two different mayor sections. One of them, towards the South, functions as the nursery school playground, while the biggest one towards the North is reserved for the elementary school students.

Floor-to-ceiling heights in the new nursery school building in Lattecaldo are contracted and expanded in direct relation to the different functions each space hosts. This allows for natural lighting in all spaces and for encouraging a direct connection to the surrounding nature.