Nursery in los Jardines de Málaga Quarter. Barcelona, Spain

The realignment of Los Jardines de Málaga (Málaga’s gardens) meant some new grounds for constructing new educational premises, a nursery to be precise. The rectangular-shaped grounds were annexed on one of its sides to the party wall of one of the buildings at the end of the street block. The other façade of the building faces the gardens. The limited size of the grounds provided prevented us from designing one level only, contrary to our wishes, therefore it was set on two different levels, thus allowing all the classrooms to face in a southerly direction.

The clear need for playgrounds and their respective porches on both levels was met by a structural deviation of the cross section. The entrance to the classrooms on both floors was reached via a wide corridor which receives light from a patio annexed to the party wall with the next building. The main entrance was located at one of the endpoints of the section and it was covered by means of the deviation upstairs, which provided a large projection above the entrance.

The combination of sections and shapes implemented in this building due to the lack of grounds was qualified by the moderation in the materials chosen; concrete for the structural elements, double exterior walls on the sides receiving less sunlight and metal-made opaque plates and blanks on the sunnier sides. The interior broke the monolithic conception of the building and shows more colours as well as materials more pleasant to the touch, such as wood or rubber. The gardens where the nursery is located have luxuriant vegetation and the plants in the centre’s own playgrounds will soon protect this small building. Exterior and interior will blend together in order to shelter and protect the centre’s little dwellers.