Hermansson Hiller Lundberg Arkitekter

Description

The preschool for 110 children in Markaryd, built from 2019 to 2022, was developed in dialogue with the unusually large open space connected with it and the rich old-growth forest surrounding it. These generous landscape elements were balanced against the elongated, low-slung building volume of the preschool, topped by a distinctive roof. Mediating between the building volume and the surrounding landscapes are intermediate spaces, arcades and loggias, sheltered but open to the elements. The edifice was built in wood, and all the building elements were painted in varying shades of green. The floor plan is organised around two internal squares, one for the younger children and one for the older children, each surrounded by rooms with different functions. The common functions are placed between the two areas. Top-lit spaces for communal gatherings, the internal squares with their verticality contrast with the horizontality of the external liminal spaces along the façades.