Project Description
Living and Learning Family Centres, Henderson
The concept for this design for the Living and Learning Family Centre in Henderson came from watching the children at Living and Learning Mangere interacting with the coloured windows along the hallway.
They love to lie up against them, spying on passers by and in the afternoon when the sun streams through they love to bathe in the coloured light. We took this idea and turned it into a whole façade of coloured glass ‘boxes’ – window seats which the children can climb into. Into this we also placed low doors so the children can come and go into their playground by themselves, building their independence.
Continuing the theme of the coloured boxes, the bathrooms and entry into the rooms also use the same concept, with the same colour used in each room to allow easy identification for the children.
On the public side of the building, the design continues the interlocking box concept, but is expressed in a much more adult way, using metal panels inset with timber. In this way the building expresses its dual purpose as a community and childcare centre.
Facts + Figures
Client: Living and Learning Family Centres – Henderson
Location: Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand
Construction cost: NZD 2 million
Area: 1000m²
Programme: Completed 2012
