Projects / Learning     

Margarinfabrikken kindergarten, Oslo

Converting an abandoned margarine factory into one of the biggest kindergartens in Oslo, NAV Arkitekter and Studio HP based the design on the language of the urban fabric.

Architect: NAV AS Arkitekter MNAL. Landscape architects: STUDIO hp AS
Published 25 May, 2012
 
Outdoor play areas. Landscape architects: STUDIO hp AS.

Outdoor play areas. Landscape architects: STUDIO hp AS.

The kindergarten includes the refurbished factory building and a new adjoining block. The buildings screen the outdoor play areas from the road.

Overview perspective.

Indoor play area.

Water play area

Corridor and media room.

Storage shelves

Home area. Each group of children have a home area in the playground.

The play areas are made up of the elements of the city: houses, streets and squares.

Basket swing.

Wavy landscape.

The margarine factory before refurbishment.

Area plan of the outdoor areas.

Landscape plan with play areas.

Detail of fence, at junction with terrace.

Facade facing south-east, to the street. The new building on the left.

Ground floor plan.

First floor plan.

Positioning plan for climbing ropes.

Completion: 2011

Address:
Stavangergata 40-42, Oslo

View it on the map

Photo:
Kim Müller and Jiri Havran (landscaping)

A protected margarine factory from the 1920’s has been extended and converted into a pedagogically innovative kindergarten for 500 children. The spatial qualities of the existing building have been utilised, and the original column structure proved flexible enough for new functional solutions, allowing a number of new types of activities for the children.

On the adjoining site a new extension in steel and concrete, with a timber facade, helps screen the outdoor play areas from the road.

Landscape architecture

The outdoor play areas of the kindergarten are organised around the same elements as the surrounding city – houses, streets and squares as well as labyrinths and gardens. Each group of children have a home area, a base from which they can venture out and explore the more public themed rooms and places.