Crèche Origami

Short description

Geneva displays its international dimension first and foremost on its right bank. Permanent missions, headquarters of organizations or large companies, this part of the city has not ceased to develop for nearly a hundred years. At the turn of the 21st century, it is getting a second wind with the construction of daring buildings, breaking with the rather ordinary fabric built up to that point.

The project

Intended for the children of JTI employees and those domiciled in the City of Geneva, this crèche is the result of a successful public/private partnership.

The entrance is a natural slide between the hills. Upon entering, one discovers playful spaces in relation to the outside where the same undulations are present. Its capacity of 104 places intelligently combines play, sleeping and garden areas, but also a kitchen and staff rooms, all wrapped in a green roof. The crèche prefers to draw its specificity from the way it varies a repetitive geometrical principle.

The clever layout and volumetry rationalize the available surface without waste. Everything is concentrated on a single level, with a minimal footprint. Under a mixed construction system, whose vertical structure is in metal and horizontal structures are composed of wood, the interior surfaces are adorned with simple materials. The ceilings are in perforated plaster, the walls are painted and the floors are in linoleum.

The concept proposes a materiality and tones thought specifically for the very young. On the exterior, the wave of the roofs is characterized by a vegetal treatment, designed in continuity with the site's exterior landscaping. Labelled Minergie®, the crèche sees most of its technology ingeniously placed between its first floor slab and the underground parking lot on which it stands. The questions of access, emergency exit and ventilation of this construction were resolved thanks to a controlled coordination between the protagonists. Deliberately set apart from the "corporate" building context that surrounds it, this children's living space creates an original and autonomous landscape all on its own. Since the opening of the nursery in August 2015, its users have been able to fully appropriate the intimate spaces born of these delicate curves and clever shifts.