Tomorrow, July 5th at 12 am in the Sala Tevere in via Cristoforo Colombo 212, the awards of the European Design Competition for the construction of a nursery school at the Headquarters of Regione Lazio, with over 100 entries, will take place.

The winning project’s aim of studioUAP is to welcome children in a peaceful place able to stimulate curiosity like in a garden. Once you step inside, a magic dimension arises from the unconventional entrance hall: trees scattered everywhere mark all the children’s areas. The entrance hall has a symbolic spacial value as a transition from the family life to the educational community where children and educators interact.

The existing pillars and structural elements are entirely cladded with wood and transformed into a forest. Special value is given to natural light and to emphasize the contrast with the surroundings where offices for the Region employees are located.

This transformation is perceived also from the outside. On the external façade the glass surfaces fitted among the tree-like structural elements replace the walls as much as possible.

The entire functional program is foreseen on the ground level developed around a double height central core. Unconventional activities can be developed here and the distribution areas around it obtain spacial quality. Regular kindergarten activities take place, instead, within spaces proportioned to children’s’ size and placed directly in touch with the outside.