Bóbita Kindergarten, Gyergyócsomafalva

Architect: Miklós Köllő
Text: György Szegő
Photos: István Szigeti Vajk

Located at the foot of Görgényi Hills, Gyergyócsomafalva has a new kindergarten that enhances the identity of the location not only with its spaces but also with its spirituality encoded in the building. The designer of the kindergarten, Miklós Köllő and the local government as client had similar concepts in mind: the more modern the institute, the more attractive it is for the local families. which means that children aged 3-4 do not break away from the everyday life of the community. However, besides being modern, it also has to convey the architectural character of the village and its wider context, Szeklerland. In the kindergarten there are two rooms for groups, a large room suited to function both as a gym hall and a venue for celebrations, as well as ancillary rooms. Its volume is adjusted to its surroundings of single-storey tall-roofed houses and thus is divided into three bulks, the units being separated by open porch-like corridors with glass roofs and timber columns, thus resulting in intermediate spaces between indoors and outdoors. Clad in beaver-tailed tiles the tall roofs and the facades as well as the wood used on the roofs of the corridors evoke the atmosphere of local barns. As the outside, the inside is also defined by rationality and respect for traditions. Instead of overcoloured, „playful” solutions the designer let the children fill the spaces with life and play. As well as wood as a material: it is present everywhere in the building.

General planning: Larix Studio
Leading architect: Miklós Köllő
Architects: László-Miklós Györfy, Zsolt Molnár
Fellow architects: Péter Madaras, Róbert Siklódi
Structure: Levente Gurzó, Zoltán Kercsó
HVAC, electrical engineering: Luca Radu