PALETTEN
- LOCATION: VONSILD, DK
- CLIENT: KOLDING MUNICIPALITY
- SIZE: 1.200 m² NEW BUILDING
- YEAR: 2009 – 2010
- STATUS: COMPLETED
- AWARD: KOLDING MUNICIPALITY ARCHITECTURE AWARD 2010
- ARCHITECT: CEBRA
- LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: CEBRA
- TURN-KEY CONTRACTOR: E.PIHL
- ENGINEER: D.A.I.
- ARTIST: HUSKMITNAVN.
- PHOTO: THOMAS MØLVIG, CEBRA
Paletten (the palette) is what the client calls a design kindergarten. This is the first in a series of themed day-care centres that specialize in different areas, such as the arts and sports. The overall aim is to offer children and parents different opportunities for day care and to create new day care centres with strong identities. The special theme for Paletten is design, architecture and the visual arts.
We wanted to clearly indicate to the children, and potential designers of the future, that creativity is partly about breaking rules and seeking solutions beyond the ordinary. To do this, we designed a building that demonstratively contrasts with the standard house we see in typical children’s drawings. Paletten does not have the classic pitched roof or a flat modern roof. Instead it has a number of pointy skylights that break away from a base. It has very few right angles and most corners are gently rounded.
Instead of traditional materials like brick and wood, we have chosen abstract white fibreboards and colour-changing chameleon surfaces for the skylights. The all white base with curving walls should be seen as a roll of paper – a blank surface for the children to decorate with their artwork, constantly changing the interior. From the very first day in the day-care centre, any child will intuitively recognize that in a building like Paletten anything goes.