Urbanism/Schools

Paletten Day Care Centre

Project information

  1. Location Søborg, Denmark
  2. Area1.500 m²
  3. Construction cost30 mill DKK

Project details

  1. Year2019 — 2021
  2. StatusCompleted
  3. Partners JL Engineering
    Anders Christensen Rådgivende Ingeniører
  4. Client Gladsaxe Municipality
  5. Enquiries Susanne Hansen
  6. Scope Sustainability
    Interior and furniture design
    Landscape design
    Transformation

Paletten Day Care Centre is a modern children's house with a focus on the needs of user needs in a building of high architectural quality and with strong connections between inside and outside.

The project consisted of renovating, rebuilding and extending the former Blaagaard Seminary into a future-proof, Nordic Eco Swan-labelled day care for 8 groups of children.

The children's house is established in the former Blaagaard Seminary designed by Clemmensen in 1961. The existing buildings appear as a modern take on harmoniously connected school buildings, made up of rectangular volumes with horizontal window bands, unbroken wall surfaces and staggered roofs with overhangs.

High architectural quality

The buildings are worthy of preservation with a strong facade character and building composition and have been transformed with a gentle hand and with respect for the character of the place into an integrated day care centre with an associated activity room and production kitchen.

Central of the original construction, an area has been demolished in favour of the construction of the new arrival building, which in terms of style and materiality forms a spatial and aesthetic connection to the original buildings.

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Arrival, playground and garden space

Nature, movement and connection to the green surroundings and garden space are the focal point of the day care centre’s daily life in interaction with the changing of the seasons. The landscape preserves and benefits from a tree belt that provides a green framework for the activities of the day care.

The playground is designed in an organic style with space for stay, a cycle path, games and movement activities, furnished with zones coded for activities for nursery and kindergarten children respectively.

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Sustainability and certification

The existing solid materials have been carried on in new additions based on beautiful patination and minimal maintenance. The buildings have been energy-renovated to contemporary standards. Materials and fixtures have been selected so that the building can be certified within the Nordic Eco Swan-label as the first renovation in Denmark and the Nordics. The interior project partly uses recycled furniture from Gladsaxe Municipality's warehouse, which has been repainted and given new life in the new day care.

The project is a good example of the value of reusing existing buildings for new purposes as a resource optimisation in the UN's Global Goals, which are also supported by measures to promote biodiversity in the area.