Children's Education Center Competition - CODHAB
Authors
Bruno Braga, Bruno Perdigão, Igor Ribeiro and Luiz Cattony
in partnership with Nómena Arquitectura;
Collaborators
Yuka Ogawa and Clarisse Figueiredo.
Brasília - DF, 2016
The project for the Early Childhood Education Center is based on three fundamental questions: the flexibility of its formal structure, adaptable over time and in different contexts; the character of the spaces created, suitable for children, thus demanding a specific interpretation and approach in relation to the program of needs; and its implementation, so that the building acts as a mediator between public and private spaces.
FLEXIBILITY FROM THE MODULE
The basic structure of the project was conceived from a base module of 7.20 x 7.20 m, inside which variations are worked to accommodate different uses. In this way, it is both possible to have the largest rooms with free spans, ensuring the flexibility of layouts, necessary for projects of this nature, as well as allowing the flexibility of the project for its application in terrains with different contexts, since, within the square module , it is possible to rearrange the spaces and guarantee the full functioning of the building.
This aspect becomes clear when one observes the two deployments developed for the competition, on different terrains, where it was possible to adapt the project while maintaining the same logic of its formal structure and functional distribution. This solution also allows for future expansions, since the constitutive logic of the project is based on an expandable base module. In addition, the proposed structure aims at an economy and rationalization of construction, essential principles for a public work like this one.
FLUIDITY AND FUNCTIONALITY OF SPACES
The program aimed at early childhood education requires specifics that go beyond the needs program. In the programmatic organization, the division of the pedagogical, administrative and service sectors, in addition to the common free areas, should guarantee the integration of spaces, but at the same time safeguard the specific activities of each part of the program. The administrative and service sectors were located at the front of the building, as they need more integration with the external public. This also solves the distribution of flows and accesses.
In the educational sector, the program divides the activities between children aged 2 and 3 and children aged 4 and 5 years. Thus, it was necessary to guarantee access to spaces for common use by all children, respecting the differences between each group. Thus, each set of activity rooms, rest rooms, solariums and common areas was divided by age group, distributing common use areas such as patios and vegetable garden in central points with easy access to all groups. The project also guarantees the diversity of spaces necessary for a kindergarten environment, always permeating the closed spaces of the program from free and open areas.
IMPLEMENTATION ACTING AS A MEDIATION BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND THE PRIVATE
The implementation of the Children's Education Center considers not only the land itself, but the entire context of the Parque do Riacho project. Thus, the equipment must fulfill not only the specific teaching function, but also act as a potential generator of public and free spaces. By freeing the front of the land, the access and parking areas are resolved, in addition to establishing a more direct relationship with the square located in front, creating a space with recessed access, free and with the possibility of gathering people and making the transition between the external public space and the private space of the equipment. The peripheral occupation of the building also acts as a mediator between internal privacy and public space, avoiding walls, since the building itself acts as a closure, permeating this transition zone with green areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMFORT STRATEGIES
A key item for the project was how the building adapts to environmental comfort conditions. From the understanding of the climatic conditions in Brasilia and verifications through simulations of lighting and insolation, the project sought to adopt two main strategies: intensification of thermal inertia and strategies for improvement in relation to low air humidity. First, we sought to reinforce the thermal inertia through thicker walls with few openings. The patios created act in a way to balance this aspect, turning the environments to the internal spaces. It is possible to see in the simulations how the covered patio allows diffused lighting throughout the year. The values obtained, even in the face of protection from direct radiation throughout the day in the summer period, are between 4,000 and 6,000 lux, which allows for different practices in this space. During winter, direct solar radiation penetrates the environment, especially during the morning, contributing to the improvement of thermal comfort and maintaining adequate levels of lighting according to the climate in Brasília.
Two other building elements that help comfort are the protected circulations, which generate more shade area, especially on the walls, and the solariums outside the main activity rooms, which act as attenuators for the internal temperature of the environments. Brasília is marked by low air humidity. Equipment aimed at children must consider this aspect as fundamental. Thus, the project sought comfort strategies focused on alleviating this low humidity, through water mirrors distributed in the project's strategic free areas, reinforcing the possibility of air humidification and evaporative cooling.
