Pihl builds energy friendly kindergarten

E. Pihl & Søn A.S. has together with the architects Cebra arkitekter, DAI Ark and Ing and the Danish street artist HuskMitNavn (RememberMyName) won a turnkey project to design and construct a highly modern low energy kindergarten for the Municipality of Kolding in Jutland.

27 May 2009  

 

 

 

The turnkey group’s proposal called “The Palette” won the competition since it was the most financially advantageous project, and it was especially appreciated for its spacious design, it light common room being the heart of the building, and for the division of the institution into various units, which create a sense of belonging and offers the children security.

The facades are executed in light, environmentally friendly Trespa panels; alternatively in tiles. The window bars will be painted in colours making it easy for the children to find their way around. The palette of colours is in harmony with the colours in the various rooms, and, together with the stories told by a grown-up artist, RememberMyName (HuskMitNavn), they are meant to inspire the children to add their own creative decorations to the house.

The outdoor areas will have many different kinds of base; hard and soft, grass ”islands”, meadows and sand, which invite to various ways of playing and offer different experiences.

The acoustic conditions are very important for the users’ well-being, especially in a kindergarten. The winning project takes this into account by using soft surfaces such as pendant ceilings and geometrical solutions reducing the reverberation period.

To obtain max. energy optimization in the building and to meet the requirements for low energy buildings, the various energy solutions have been incorporated right from the design phase of the project. “The Palette” will have a larger surface with the possibility of a more efficient use of daylight coming via skylights and windows placed high in the walls, contrary to very compact structures where the surface is reduced and where energy is often used for artificial light.

The building’s partition walls, back walls and roof will be carried out in concrete, which has the property to retain the heat. The concrete back wall will be insulated with mineral wool completed by a climate envelope, and solar cells will be installed at the back of the building’s large skylights.

'We feel sure that it will be a funny and exiting task to build a highly modern kindergarten. And professionally speaking, it is very satisfactory to create a building with the architect and consulting engineer where energy and indoor climate solutions are considered right from the design phase. This will inevitably give the best result in respect of the appearance of the building and the actual energy savings obtained,´ says Søren Henriksen from E. Pihl & Søn A.S., which is at present carrying out a number of projects according to the regulations for low energy buildings, e.g. the Vitus Bering Innovation Park in Horsens, Jutland.

The modern kindergarten will cover an area of 1,300 m2 and will be receiving totally 112 children at the age between 0 and 6. The building will be holding facilities to receive up to 20 visiting children. Completion of the project is foreseen in April 2010.

For further information, please contact:
Søren Henriksen
Tel. +45 75 72 27 6072 2760
E. Pihl & Søn A.S.
Nybrovej 116
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Tel. +45 4527 7200
Fax +45 4527 7100
www.pihl-as.dk