Flowing Transition

Until a few years ago, hundreds of employees at the administrative and production departments of the Swedish telephone company Ericsson used to work at their headquarters in the Southwest of Stockholm. After the company had moved away and the “Konstfack “ art academy had entered the stage, the building complex has turned into the city’s creative focal point. In the direct vicinity, where a little forest meets new residential buildings, the Tellus kindergarten has been opened, designed by local architect Tham & Videgård.

The new building, faced with wooden slats held in flashy yellow, serves as a mediator between the various contexts and scales and, with its organic embryo shape, creates an exciting contrast to the classic-modern architecture of the Ericsson complex from between 1935 and 1948 based on plans by Ture Wennerholm. On the functional level, the unusual layout also creates a half-open entrance yard where parents and children can say “hello” or “good-bye” to each other.

Interior with great Variety  

Just as inviting is the inside of the new three-story building, where the organically round outer walls form a dynamic and flowing spatial structure with various room layouts and plenty of different lines of sight together with the also curved inner walls. The interior gets additional life through the windows seemingly arbitrarily placed at different heights of various sizes, allowing the children to look outside. About half of the openings, Tham & Videgård have covered with wooden slats installed vertically onto the façade to have a flexible glare protection inside the group rooms.

Layout inspired by Education

The unconventional layout and equipment of the rooms has been developed in close cooperation with the kindergarten’s management based on the principles of the Reggio pedagogic. These ideas see a facility’s rooms as a “third educator”, as a place for communication, providing activity offers apart from possibilities for retreating. Hence, the Tellus kindergarten has a large common plaza instead of separate group areas, allowing the six groups to play and learn together. Separate rooms are also available for silent activities. Apart from that, a small canteen, offices, rest rooms and a delivery area have been integrated. An exciting project, combining innovative pedagogic with ground-breaking architecture in an organic way.