Applying prefab architecture – and the range of possibilities it offers – to kindergarten design, has quickly realized four modular schools for tots in various Lisbon neighbourhoods. Embracing a palette of playful hues, the Porto firm’s project is a vibrant response to a public tender issued by the city in search of the most suitable solutions for this type of educational facility.
The kindergartens are part of a program aimed at young families in growing districts that need this investment in early education the most. It was therefore imperative that the buildings be completed in a tight timeframe. “The requirement of the brief was, more generally, to establish a set of procedures that would ensure a quick and effective building process,” the architects explain. Cue prefab architecture.
Taking the municipality’s urgency to heart, the Porto firm designed an entirely new approach to construction. A , Summary came up with a building module that allows for the interior program to be as flexible as can be. “We explored for the first time a three-dimensional prefabricated and modular system based on U-shaped reinforced concrete pieces, which are grouped and overlapped according to the program’s needs,” the firm explains. The result: Their quartet of kindergartens was realized in only 13 months, with onsite assembly taking only a few days.
Besides accelerating the building process, which meant that construction would barely disrupt the neighbourhood, the prefab modular system was also economically viable. And it allowed the firm to imagine a cohesive design language that makes the schools, and their relationship to one another, identifiable and recognizable throughout the city.
The design consists of two groups of overlapping U-shaped modules that contain various compartments, and a central corridor that facilitates circulation via hallways, stairwells and elevators (and houses all the HVAC infrastructure). The two-storey buildings feature nurseries on both levels; on the ground floor, these classrooms are complemented by kitchen, administrative, laundry and other amenity spaces. On either floor, there is access to the outdoors: The ground level opens onto a playground through a dramatic viewfinder-shaped entrance and the upper tier boasts terraces and indoor-outdoor areas.
Concrete was selected as the main building material because of its malleability in terms of prefab construction, which also minimizes material waste compared to onsite pours; as for the city’s brief, it also promises low maintenance and high durability. When it comes to the holistic aesthetic the firm was seeking among the four kindergartens, it also makes obvious sense: It allowed the design team to introduce a palette of colours that complements its raw and austere character. Pastel pinks, sunshiny yellows and aqua blues converge in bursts of energy that make the kindergartens feel kid-friendly, happy and welcoming.
“The colour palette serves several functions,” the firm explains. “They were chosen and studied to be calming and pleasant to children; they introduce a degree of playfulness that answers directly to the function; and a formal analogy is created among the four kindergartens, making them recognizable throughout the city.”
This legibility is also emphasized in the way the modular panels come together, which lets the buildings’ prefab bona fides shine through. “From the exterior, a clear tectonic reading of the buildings is possible – the joints are visible, and one can discern each of the modules and the way they are arranged and supported.”
While the architects are not yet ready to talk future expansion, they hint that other municipalities have expressed interest in similar kindergartens. With their easily deployable prefab architecture, Summary is poised to deliver on time, and with inspiration.
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