Stenurten, ecological day-care centre

More pictures from the project

Address: Hans Egede Gade/Rantzausgade,
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Client: Copenhagen Municipality, Family and Labour Market Administration, 9th office
Architect: Arkitema
Landscape: Arkitema
Engineers: NIRAS A/S
Size: capacity 80 children, 1,000 m²
Construction: 2001-02
Awards: 'Dogma Environmental Prize', 2003. Awarded a prize by the Association for the Beautification of the Capital, 2003.

Outwardly, the building does not conceal the fact that the inner climate is its highest-prioritised environmental goal; several elements help to promote environmental awareness via clear ecological and environmentally-friendly signals. The institution's ‘climate zone’, located behind its large, south-west-facing glass facades, plays a significant role in both the building's architectural expression and its zone divisions. It also helps to provide ventilation, as do the distinctive chimneys, which, together with the climate zone, are the driving forces in the natural ventilation system. The building's external materials – the timber-clad facades and the 'green' roof at an oblique angle – also send eco-friendly signals.

The proximity of the centre to a local church naturally requires that the main architectural elements should show respect for the church building as an institution and as a historical monument. This proximity was the determining factor in the building's cross-section profile; on the church side, it 'digs' itself into the ground and hides beneath the sloping roof surface, with stonecrops in shimmering colours. The low height of the building on the church side secures sufficient daylight for the church, the crypt and the presbytery, and ensures that the church continues to be experienced as a detached building. On the southwest side, on the other hand, the building rises up markedly, and the institution opens itself up with large windows towards the playground, the park and sunlight from the southwest.