Comfort, safety and child-friendly design in harmony

To meet the ongoing need for childcare facilities, new rooms were added to the Waldorfkindergarten Zaubernuss in Verl. The fit-out, colour design and function of the roughly 250-square-metre organic extension to the kindergarten, which has been in operation since 2016, is systematically focussed on supporting early childhood development. Carefully coordinated heroal system solutions create the perfect conditions for comfortable, accessible and safe day-to-day activities in the extension.

Since 2016, the Waldorfkindergarten Zaubernuss has been providing childcare opportunities aligned to the Waldorf education approach for the children of heroal employees and local parents. Based on the approach originally proposed by Rudolf Steiner, the educational concept strives to provide holistic support for the body, soul and spirit. In order to offer children a rich variety of activities for sensory development, the Zaubernuss facilities are aesthetically attractive and place a premium on comfort aspects. The kindergarten is located on the ground floor of a building with a total of six residential units directly opposite the headquarters of the aluminium system supplier. Planning and construction took place in cooperation with heroal Building Management.

The kindergarten has responded to the high demand for childcare offers that focus on early childhood development phases by significantly expanding its capacities. A large extension totalling around 250 square metres with rooms for children up to three years of age has been added, which houses a play room with adjoining dining area, two sleep areas, a baby-care room, a wash room as well as an extended outside area to support the development of ten toddlers. At the same time, the existing building, which originally opened in 2016, was further refined to the needs of children in the pre-school age group. This measure has allowed the Waldorfkindergarten Zaubernuss to increase the number of childcare places from 15 to 30.

The high energy-efficiency of the building complex meets contemporary sustainability requirements. A heat pump as well as a photovoltaic system to expand the capacities already in place in the existing building ensure an environmentally friendly energy supply. A valuable addition is made by highly heat-insulated heroal system solutions, which contribute to the overall energy performance of the building. Starting right from the entrance area, the heroal C 50 HI curtain wall system with triple-glazed windows and continuous seal provides outstanding energy-efficiency.

In addition, the windows from the heroal W 72 and W 77 systems provide top quality along with maximum energy and cost efficiency. Thanks to their unique strip geometry, they achieve U_w values that satisfy the current heat protection requirements for windows. To optimise the heat protection in the sleeping areas, the decision was made to go with the heroal W 77 window system, which satisfies the KfW 40 criteria as well. Installed as a French door, the raised handles prevent access by children thus ensuring their safety. To match the existing building, all elements were coated in an appealing RAL 7016 anthracite grey.

"A further major focus in planning and implementation was ensuring a high-quality design with a form and function tailored to the needs of children", outlines the project manager responsible for the extension. The elegant optics and understated simplicity of the heroal system solutions in the Kindergarten Zaubernuss are an important design element that impress with narrow view widths and a subtle aesthetics. "The vibrant colours used for the door systems are an additional visual highlight. This works together neatly with the discreet optics in the adjacent residential units to create a harmonious ensemble."

In the entrance area, the entrance gate in Les Couleurs^® Le Corbusier^® shade 32110 l‘ocre rouge and an identically coloured door create an striking feature. The entrance area is also accentuated by floor-to-ceiling curtain wall cladding, manufactured by the heroal profile bending and edging service, in RAL 6010 grass green, that visually aacentuates the name of the kindergarten. On the garden side of the building, doors in shades of RAL 3014 antique pink and RAL 3013 tomato red to RAL 5021 water blue, continue the design concept implemented in the existing building with its cheerful colours for the doors. Key benefits were offered by the industry-leading heroal coating technology as well as the huge variety of colours and surfaces, which enable coatings in extraordinary colours with the shortest possible delivery times.

To optimally meet the needs of both children and carers, the architectural concept also embraces the idea of comfort throughout. The passage areas were fitted with the flush, accessible as well as (depending on the condition of the outside areas) visually and functionally high-quality heroal DS drainage system for discreet surface water drainage. Some of the connecting doors are fitted with electric openers to prevent them from being opened by children.

The shading provided by heroal sun protection systems ensures a comfortable room climate year-round with highly-effective UV and glare protection. To match the colour concept of the existing building, the heroal VS Z and heroal VS Z CS textile sun protection systems with a textile in the Serge 3% version in 2629 linen was used. The innovative zip technology ensures energy-efficient building operation with exceptional stability of the textile, even when exposed to high wind loads. A particularly aesthetic feature is the extremely subtle integration of the heroal VS Z CS sun protection in the curtain wall, which enables narrow guide rails with a view width of just 25 mm.

The sleeping areas are darkened with the heroal RS 37 roller shutter system, which impresses with exceptional security, soundproofing and heat insulation values, and whose well-engineered construction supports the use of extremely small box sizes. Combined with the exceptional sealing of the heat insulating window systems, this also offers the Kindergarten Zaubernuss a premium solution for high soundproofing requirements as a result of its proximity to a main thoroughfare. The roller shutter systems are complemented by high-quality, visually elegant insect screen systems in a double-acting swing door version, which protect children from pollen and insects.

The high-quality Kindergarten fit-out is rounded-off by heroal system solutions for fire safety. The roller shutters, which are used to darken the French doors in the sleeping areas, were fitted with the heroal rescue powered by Kaiser Nienhaus emergency power control system. Designed for use in the second escape route, in the event of a power failure it ensures that the roller shutters can open independently to allow the children to safely exit the building.

As an interface between the indoors and outdoors, the certified heroal D 72 door system in the Zaubernuss rooms can also be used as escape doors in line with DIN 179/1125. As a visual match to the kindergarten's windows and curtain wall systems, the door system impresses with a consistent, appealing look and perfectly adds to the quality and energy-efficiency of the building.

The tight schedule was a particular challenge for the execution of the construction project. In this respect, the project team benefited, among other things, from the good cooperation with the appointed specialist partner, W. u. A. Varnholt from Gütersloh, helping to meet the required deadlines with good advice and rapid response to change requests. "To protect the children from noise and building dust, the extension had to be constructed during the summer closing time, leaving a time slot of just three weeks. All of the remaining work was able to take place while the kindergarten was in operation. But there were strict requirements to ensure that construction activities were suspended during sleeping times and that the noise development was kept to a minimum", reports the project manager.