Troisdorf, Germany
Designed by Atelier Brückner, The Hippolytusgarten Family Centre is part of a new tripartite ensemble. Two new buildings – a parish center and the family center – as well as an existing church serves as an open center for the Catholic community.
The kindergarten won a 2020 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The constructions are conceived as a unit, in terms of design language and choice of materials and hence create an urban dialogue.
The Hippolytusgarten family center, 870 sqm in size, nestles to the south at the development border and opens to the north toward a protected green area.
Indoors, the slat facade is continued in the form of wooden paneling, thus making a connection between the inside and the outside.
The southern outer wall shields the interior acoustically and visually from the street and offers privacy and security.
Warm beech wood and bright daylight that falls through the generously glazed facade and skylights determine the impression of the room.
The color scheme and the materials used are intentionally reserved. The kindergarten features a partly open concept, to which the architecture responds with a flexible room structure that encourages play.
The children are assigned to fixed groups but, during the course of the day, can freely decide where and with whom they play and what facilities they would like to use.
The group rooms can be transformed into theme-based spaces.
Openly designed changing areas and smaller, introverted ancillary rooms supplement the range of spaces within the building.
In the center, there is an open marketplace‚ a common space, and a meeting point.
A play area in the paved inner courtyard, a meadow, a play space, and a spacious natural adventure playground are available to the children.
The large outdoor area, which is over 6,500 sqm, offers them many opportunities for development.
Atelier Brückner’s “The Hippolytusgarten Family Centre”
Architects: Atelier Brückner GmbH
Client: Katholische Kirchengemeinde Troisdorf
General Contractor: Atelier Brückner GmbH
Photographers: Daniel Stauch
