Bernardo Bader Architekten has completed a “children’s house in the park” (kinderhaus im park) in the village of Egg, Bregenzerwald, Austria. The single-story wooden building offers children a homey, bright, spacious, and smart interior with a connection to the outdoors and nature.
The kindergarten building is designed as a series of gable roofs, adopting the architectural typology of a village. In harmony with its surroundings, the building sits slightly back from the main road, forming a large courtyard. With a brook on the north side, “protective construction was necessary due to increased flooding, and is part of the outdoor space concept,” says Bernardo Bader Architekten. A driveway running alongside the brook provides access to agricultural land behind the kindergarten and a parking garage in the basement.
The kindergarten’s wooden structure includes prefabricated exterior walls and roof elements, thereby reducing overall construction time; the core zone uses concrete.
Large windows provide an abundance of natural light and ceiling heights are up to six meters (approx. 20 feet). “Group and common areas appear more like studio spaces than standard kindergarten rooms,” says Bernardo Bader Architekten. Walls paneled in silver fir and clay casein floors reinforce this impression. “The bespoke village is intended to encourage children to work and grasp things independently,” says the studio.
A central entrance leads to the kindergarten’s public area with facilities that include a kitchen, dining room, and exercise room. The area is designed to be flexible, acting as a small multi-purpose hall, family center, and place for cultural events in village life. The rooms used by children line up along what Bernardo Bader Architekten refers to as “a kind of village street.” Windows on this “street” look into the rooms, ensuring spaces feel bright and open.
Roof and floor structures
Roof structure (top to bottom)
Tin roof copper standing seam: 100 mm
Separation layer
Formwork: 25 mm
Rear ventilation with counter battens: 200 mm
Sub-roof membrane open to diffusion: 200 mm
Formwork: 25 mm
Wooden substructure in-between
Wood fiber insulation WLS041: 120 mm
Waterproofing bitumen
Cross-laminated timber: 180 mm
Ceiling suspension: 155 mm
Battens in-between acoustic fleece: 40 mm
Black acoustic fleece
Visible battens: 25 mm
Floor structure (top to bottom)
Wooden floorboards: 20 mm
Cement screed with FBH: 80 mm
Vapor barrier
EPS - T: 20 mm
EPS WLS031: 150 mm
EPS WLS031: 80 mm
Reinforced concrete separating ceiling: 400 mm
Area: 2,000 square meters (21,528 square feet)
Volume: 8,854 cubic meters (312,676 cubic feet)
Heating requirements: 48.70 kWh/m²a
