Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture, The National Day Nurseries Association Centre Hounslow, London
Richard Cottrell
Tuesday 24 February 2009, 1:00pm
Richard Cottrell of Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture presents:
The National Day Nurseries Association Centre, Hounslow, London
Part of The New Suburban Civic series of lunchtime talks.
The NDNA building was conceived of as a large translucent rainscreen ‘tent’ protecting lightweight children’s buildings. The form is a mix between traditional suburban housing and out of town retail sheds.
The building is part of an ongoing exploration by Cottrell & Vermeulen to provide an affordable, child friendly architecture. Children occupy spaces differently to adults; children require outdoor spaces, will escape through unlocked windows, become restless indoors on rainy days, lie on their backs and look at the ceiling, hide under furniture etc. The oversized roof provides external ‘room’ decks that open up onto the interior spaces, effectively doubling the accommodation on rainy days. The landscape is also conceived of as safe rooms that provide varying activity areas. By creating a large safe children’s territory, the centre is easier to manage and more fun to be in.
