Nursery Chains: Design - A fine site
A nursery's building design can make a vast difference to the care it can afford young children. Annette Rawstrone looks at how Kids 1st aims to provide the best environment possible.
To create a stimulating and fun environment that blends well with the local area was the aim when designing Kids 1st Day Nurseries' Hexham Nursery, Northumberland. The nursery chain, which operates seven nurseries in the north east of England, achieved this by collaborating with Kate Reed (pictured right), an educational consultant, as well as Dewjo'c architects, which had experience of designing buildings for early years children.
'We are always trying to improve on our nursery designs, and there is such an advantage from taking a fresh sheet of paper,' says Kids 1st managing director Mark McArdle. 'We want an environment that gives children maximum opportunity to enjoy themselves while at nursery and stimulate their learning. It is also important that the nursery fits in the local neighbourhood and becomes part of it rather than sticks out.
'Kate Reed helped to make us aware of the child's point of view. She brought the thinking and planning down to a child's level, and we made sure the nursery is spacious and light but not intimidating.'
Ms Reed worked as a primary school teacher and registration and inspection officer before undertaking consultancy and training work. She explains, 'I'm able to go through what the early years is about with the architects and explain our priorities: what works and what doesn't. I say no to creating mini classrooms and instead talk to them about the principles of Reggio Emilia and brain research. I can also check the architect's plans and ensure they fit regulations, such as enough toilets and washbasins. Also, that the room layouts work; checking where the baby-changing facilities are located, for instance. The architects work around aesthetics, but we also need the basic practicalities.'
Kate Reed's wish list when designing a nursery includes:
- Using as much natural light as possible. 'One of my missions is to ban strip lighting from buildings,' she says.
- Plenty of open space, while keeping hubs and small spaces where children can feel secure and cosy.
- Easy access to the outdoors.
- A practical environment to work in. 'The staff need to be considered, as well as the children. It needs to be a comfortable place to work in.'
- Using a neutral colour scheme to create a calming and soothing environment. 'Although it is good to use some bold colours against a neutral background to add impact.'
- Creating a multi-sensory environment by paying attention to different materials and textures.
- An environment that offers a challenge to the children and supports risk-taking. 'We included safety surfaces in some areas, but also outdoor slopes as well as flat spaces, because in the real world there are lumps and bumps and raised areas.'
'I want to make daycare as homely as possible, because of the number of hours children spend in the building,' adds Ms Reed. 'It can't be a replica of home, but it can be a secure second base with a homely feel.'
View Points
Dewjo'c director Peter Swift, who designed the £1.5m building, says, 'Mark and the team set us the challenge of creating an innovative building that not only looks good, but offers design-led details that help young children to learn. We understand that babies and young children develop through sensory stimulation, so it was crucial that the building offered as many opportunities as possible to encourage this.'
The 110-place timber-framed nursery is clad in western cedar and off-white render. It is a two-storey building with ground floor playrooms to allow free-flow outdoors, along with sleep and sensory rooms and changing facilities. Upstairs there are rooms for out-of-school care, a soft play area, a parents room, staff room, kitchen and laundry.
Large expanses of windows maximise the impressive views over the Tyne Valley, as well as giving the south-facing building a light and airy feel. The scattered window arrangement - some just a foot off the ground - allows for the children's different eye levels. 'This made the design expensive, because low-level windows need to be toughened and laminated to comply with safety regulations.However, Mark saw the benefit of that extra expense. There is a lot more light and even the smaller children can see through the windows,' explains Mr Swift.
The windows are not confined to the outer walls. 'We wanted to ensure that there was a logical progression through the rooms, so there are viewing panels where children can peep into the next room and see where they are going or, conversely, look where they were before,' says Mr McArdle. 'This has been very useful when helping with transitions and it lessens what can be a traumatic time for some children.'
In Reggio, hatches are used to allow children to look through into food preparation areas, so Ms Reed also introduced windows into the kitchen and laundry room. 'I'm a real believer in children needing to know what is on the other side of walls. The windows give a real openness, and the children can see food being prepared and know that food does not just appear on a trolley,' she says.
Low-level windows in the upper level also give views into the rooms below, enabling parents to watch from a distance as their children settle in to the nursery.
Keeping calm
Consideration was given to the flow of people around the building. 'I am not a fan of corridors, because they give an institutional feel. We worked out the different spaces in a logical way, and in the planning stage we gave attention to where parents would be going so that there are not blockages or traffic jams of parents,' explains Mr McArdle.
'The joy of the planning stage is that lines on paper can always be rubbed out, but once you have committed to a design it can be difficult to change it. That's not to say we didn't make some changes; for instance, we moved some of the windows.'
An inviting nursery entrance area includes a large fish tank. 'Children and parents are greeted by an oasis of light and calm that will set the tone for the rest of the day, which is very reassuring,' Mr McArdle says.
The design process did not end with the nursery building, but continued into a landscaped garden. 'The outdoor environment is as important as the building,' believes Mr Swift. 'We spent a lot of time thinking about the garden and how children would play there. We used plants that would provide different effects and experiences, such a tall bamboo for the children to push through, which will be like a small woodland to them.
'Care has been taken to stimulate as many senses as we can, such as different natural materials to touch and the smells and colours of the plants. There is also a tree with a traditional bench around it, so that children and staff can sit outside in the shade for storytelling sessions. It's like something out of a children's fairytale.'
