Date: 03 July 09
Author: Caroline Ednie, Web Editor
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Atkins has received planning permission to construct a new nursery building in Paisley as part of the on going Glasgow Airport Rail Link displaced facilities project. Currently lying on the route of the proposed viaduct to the West of the Airport site, the proposals relocate the building to a new site to the East of the Airport on Abbotsinch Road.
The project will be home to 100 children from 0-5 yrs. The architects were keen to create a child scale building which would enhance the learning process and not patronise it’s users. Externally, an Eastern White Cedar shingle skin is carved into creating a gently glowing entrance and covered play areas. This variation of material provides a reference to the journey through time the children will experience at the nursery, and includes the ageing process of the shingles and also a diaphanous, intriguing series of spaces through which the children will enter and exit the spaces - formed from backlit polycarbonate panels.
The tactile variation of the external skin serves as a contrast to the more neutral interior providing the user with a more complex spatial experience. This takes the form of the compression and release of the controlled entrance to the top lit shared breakout space, which acts as the spine of the building. This shared space allows an interaction between children of all ages in a controlled internal space with diffuse light flooding the space from the full length cupola which in turn is wrapped with lace curtains. The play areas stem from this space providing direct access to the landscaped play areas through full height sliding glazed screens allowing the children a constant reference with the outside world.
The £1.5M project is aiming for a completion date of May 2010
Project: Happitots Nursery
Architect: Atkins
Client: Happitots Day Nurseries Ltd.
Location: Paisley
Link: www.atkinsglobal.com
Images: Atkins
(Click on images to enlarge)
