Where the courtyard of a Wilhelminian-style urban block was once used for commercial purposes, there is now a daycare center. Its richly structured, light-colored brick façade simultaneously ties in with the industrial culture of the district and radiates southern warmth. After the space had become too small for the commercial operation, the city of Frankfurt approved this new daycare building, whose multi-purpose room and hall can also be used by clubs and initiatives from the neighborhood outside of operating hours.

In order to make the best possible use of the heterogeneously shaped plot on the polygonal building site, Pressel & Müller Architekten planned a star-shaped building that creates small, intimate play yards that can be accessed directly from the group and quiet rooms. The daycare center shines brightly in the inconsistent surroundings, as the exterior walls of the solid construction building were clad with light-colored water-struck clinker bricks. The two-tone façade with its diamond pattern is a subtle reference both to the expressionism of the nearby former Hoechst paint works and to the trivial architecture typical of the area. The entrance area creates a beautiful transition by taking up the diamond relief of the façades - only with the colors reversed. Inside the building, arrivals are greeted by a central two-storey foyer, which can be connected to an adjoining hall and offers space for neighborhood and district events. From here, alleyways lead into the light-flooded wings of the building with their group and functional rooms, which offer views of the varied terrain through the large windows. The durable materials used - larch wood, exposed plaster, ceramics, sheet bronze and linoleum - are unobtrusive and at the same time provide a sensory experience for the children.

Due to the special inner courtyard location, the client and architects decided to implement the new building as EnEV - 30 percent instead of the passive house standard. The location in the hazardous area of a rail yard at Industriepark Höchst also placed special demands on the building envelope in accordance with the SEVESO II guideline. In the event of an emergency, this directive requires, among other things, rapid and safe sealing of the building envelope to the outside air and alarm technology. The building materials of the double-shell building envelope are nevertheless purely ceramic and can be dismantled, reused as a building material and fully recycled. So it's no wonder that the daycare center is one of 20 projects that made it onto the shortlist for the state prize "Exemplary Buildings in the State of Hesse 2023" as well as the DAM Prize 2023. 

www.pressel-mueller.de

Photos: 

Thomas Mies
www.thomasmies.de

(Published in CUBE Frankfurt 02|23)