Fukushima, Japan

Tokyo-basedKensuke Aisaka Atelier designed a multi-leveled nursery school in the city of Fukushima, in Japan, and managed to create a peaceful environment for toddlers to play in. A big slide and a colorful climbing wall are just some of the features of the structure.

The design ofTESO-RO Nursery School was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

This nursery school for 90 students named “TESORO” (meaning treasure box in Italian) is located in a residential neighborhood in Fukushima.

In order to create an environment in which children can play freely, the architects proposed consolidating their private road into the site while maintaining the function as an approach for vehicles on the ground, they could put nursery rooms above the road, thereby securing space for a large, open-air play area in the center of the low-story building.

Project: TESO-RO Nursery School
Architects: Kensuke Aisaka Atelier
Client: Chairman of Social Welfare Welfare Association
Contractor: Komata Komuten Co.Ltd.
Photographers: Shigeo Ogawa