HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji No Shiro / Preschool that collects rainwater into a puddle

HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji No Shiro / Preschool that collects rainwater into a puddle



If there’s any place where kids should be allowed to be kids, that is kindergarten.

In Japan Kumamoto City there is a special preschool. It has a courtyard that collects rainwater into one giant, clean puddle that kids can stomp and splash through. Let‘s face it, kids love to play in the rain and also it’s no doubt that outdoor play, whatever the weather, is a necessity of childhood. Instead of shuttering kids when it rains, this preschool invites them to play. When it‘s not raining, space can become into a sports yard or even into a skating rink in the winter. The courtyard of the school is designed to accumulate rainwater so that after a heavy downpour there is a gigantic, pool-like puddle just waiting for the kids to come out and play, says Taku Hibino, the lead architect at Hibino Sekkei.

This kindergarten Kumamoto City has an open plan, that encourages the mixing and rearrangement of classes, thereby fostering creative thought and management by the school’s staff. Furniture is used as partitions and teachers are encouraged to mix up kids of different ages. An interesting fact is that students are asked to purchase their own desk and chair, which they keep and eventually take home after graduating. This keeps a continual flow of new furniture into the school, which helps in maintaining a fresh and clean aesthetic.

The school was designed by Youji No Shiro, an architecture, interior, and furniture design firm for kids run by the Hibino Sekkei architecture firm. They specialize in designing early education facilities.

Architects: HIBINOSEKKEI, Youji no Shiro

Location: Kumamoto, Japan

Area: 1161.0 sqm

Project Year: 2015

Photography by Studio Bauhaus, Ryuji Inoue

preschool in japan by youji no shiro HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji No Shiro / Preschool that collects rainwater into a puddle

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Via Designboom