Snowflake Kindergarten

The first kindergarten in Fužine is located near the city centre, in a densely built borough between the main road and the Ličanka River.

In order to be adapted to the surrounding rural architecture and the needs of children as its primary users, the building is divided into four smaller sections. The hall, as the most dominant section, accentuates and shapes the entrance to the building from the south-west side. By choosing a sloping gable roof and sharp edges reflecting the local construction style, the integral sections become the interiors of great heights, used as two-storey areas. The height of the galleries is lower in order to create a more intimate space for children.

The inner space is dominated by wood as a contrast to the dark façade and the roofing sheets. Wood is used as a tribute to the traditional buildings of Gorski Kotar and wood as the traditional raw material in that region. Also, the maximum use of wood in the interior is the response to the impossibility of using wood in the exterior. An additional advantage of using wood is the warmth of the space and creation of an incentive surroundings.

Two Tarkett linoleum collections, Veneto xf^2TM and Etrusco xf^2TM were used for the flooring.

Linoleum is made from natural materials and it is 100% biodegradable. Linseed oil, chalk, wood, pine resins and different types of pigments are used for the production of linoleum. Thanks to such composition, the Tartett linoleum is antibacterial, antiallergic and antistatic material. Due to the pine resins vapours, linoleum is even useful for people with respiratory disorders.

Linen 400 design, from the Veneto xf2 collection, was installed in the entrance part of the space, the hallway, entering the lower part of the kindergarten units.
Then the grey linoleum, Etrusco Beige 002, was used, stretching to the kindergarten units and the hall.

The cheerfulness of children as well as the surroundings and the location are illustrated on the front elevations of the kindergarten units as a graphic presentation of a “house”. In this way, the façade, framed by the sloping roof, creates a play of shadows and the variable perception of the building’s perspective, offering a passer-by the views of various scenes, from which they can “choose” their favourite one.