Hestia

This building was designed like a city. At the Hestia Daycare Centre children go on a voyage of discovery and explore new places every day. This ties in with the Hestia centre’s approach to educating children, which is based on the idea that they already possess knowledge and skills and that these should be developed in a playful way. To that end, the centre has been built as a conglomeration of interconnected spaces. In this building you can wander from large spaces to small ones and from high areas to low ones, just like in a real city.

Thanks to the centre’s large glass walls, the spaces get a lot of daylight. The transparency at the children’s eye level provides a feeling of continuity between the spaces. The outdoor areas are also part of this indoor city. This was achieved by treating the indoor and outdoor spaces as if they were the same. They form one big integrated ensemble and interact effortlessly, giving the children’s curiosity free rein.

The Hestia Daycare Centre was nominated for the Arie Keppler Prize 2012, was given a special mention at the BNA Building of the Year awards 2012 and was included in the Yearbook of Dutch Architecture 2012.