Kindergarten and Mini Nursery, Debrecen-Tégláskert

Architect: Tibor China
Text: Eszter Götz
Photos: Attila Varga

Redefining the tradition of Transylvanian wooden churches, the tower church of Debrecen-Tégláskert is one of the main works of György Csete’s organic architecture and a dominant feature of the quiet suburban surroundings. The two-group kindergarten and mini nursery of the Calvinist Church have now been built next to it. Is it possible to create a complex from this situation, where none of its members is subordinated, responding to its own task with individual architectural means, while at the same time openly signalling their belongingness? Tibor China, the designer of the nursery decided to express this unity by means of spatial means. He placed the entrance to the nursery on the main axis that runs through the church and opened up a space in front of it, creating an open space that lends depth to both volumes and thus also connects them. The gable roofs of the surrounding detached houses are echoed by the zigzag roof ridges of the monolithic slab. The sensitive treatment of space is also reflected in the installation of various functions. Social, community, educational and administrative spaces are located at the street front: a dining room and a gym, with an adjoining classroom and bathrooms. The children’s rooms occupy the wings that extend in a comb shape reaching towards the courtyard. A simple mass formation and well conceived, visually rich kindergarten has been created in the suburbs of Debrecen featuring natural light and a restrained yet serene environment.

Architect: Tibor China
Fellow architect: Imre Thold
Structure: Géza Búti
HVAC: János Bánhalmi
Electrical engineering: Ferenc Beke
Traffic: László Tarcsai
Fire protection: Miklós Lázár
Rehabilitation expert: István  Gortka
Landscape architect: Tamás Sándor
Kitchen technology: Erzsébet Síposné Kovács
Client: Reformed Diocese of Debrecen-Tégláskert