Kindergarten

Mezher, Lebanon

2016-2018

1.200 sqm

Academic

Built

Wissam Chaaya

ArchDaily

Project

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Date

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Photographer

Press

Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - Group of pine trees on a hillside with clear sky background

  • The Kindergarten is located as part of a local Armenian community’s school campus in the Northern suburbs of Beirut.

    The campus presents a rare green lung in a residential development that has developed in the area.

    In a city with little green space, the single floor layout of the design of the Kindergarten provides back to the city its entire footprint under the form of a green roof that blends with its surroundings. The central courtyards are the main drop-off – playground or plantation areas. They provide through the open accessible spaces, outdoor extensions of the project as well as natural sunlight to the different classrooms around it. Access to the project is through the first drop-off courtyard that is characterized by a yellow canopy – the only visual link with the project from the main street –

Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - Cross-sectional architectural drawing of a building with interior and exterior details, including a tree outside.

  • The green roof as well as the courtyards of the project become the quintessential design element around which the project revolves.

    The project’s design aims at blurring the boundary of the classrooms with the outdoor green space at a micro scale, and acting as a green lung for the community at a macro scale.

Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - Indoor view of a school corridor with large glass windows overlooking an outdoor courtyard with a tree and playground area.
  • Modern white houses with flat green roofs on a hillside, overlooking other buildings and trees under a blue sky.
  • Interior of a classroom or play area with blue tables and chairs, large glass windows showing a tree outside, and hanging decorations
  • Outdoor area with a yellow ceiling supported by metal poles, landscaped with green plants and trees, and a concrete driveway or walkway.
  • Mountain landscape with green shrubbery and a blue sky with a few clouds.
Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - Construction Phase Photo
Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - Modern building entrance with a curved driveway, yellow roof canopy supported by gray columns, and landscaped greenery with trees and shrubs.
Etienne Bastormagi Architecture and Design - Architecture - Educational - Kindergarten - An aerial view of a modern, yellow building with a unique angular design surrounded by residential buildings, trees, and roads in an urban area.

  • The central courtyards are the main drop-off – playground or plantation areas. They provide through the open accessible spaces, outdoor extensions of the project as well as natural sunlight to the different classrooms around it. Access to the project is through the first drop-off courtyard that is characterized by a yellow canopy – the only visual link with the project from the main street –

    A series of indoor-outdoor spatial experiences guide the different components of the project and created themed outdoor spaces, that are either classroom extensions, or gardens for the playground and dining spaces of the students.

    The kindergarten contains 9 main classrooms in three different volumes each of which caters to a specific age group of students, linked to the support facilities that includes an indoor playground, a canteen, and administration facilities.

    The building is formed entirely of a single material – concrete – that embraces the different green spaces.

    The canopies and details of the project are designed as light metal structures, contrasting the immersed structure.