Happitots Nursery Glasgow : Information + Images

Happitots Nursery, Paisley Atkins 18 Jun 2009 £1.5M nursery building for which Atkins have recently received planning permission. The building is part of the wider Glasgow Airport Rail Link project. Atkins has received planning permission to construct a new nursery building in Paisley as part of the on going Glasgow Airport Rail Link displaced facilities project. Currently lying on the route of the proposed viaduct to the West of the Airport site, the proposals relocate the building to a new site to the East of the Airport on Abbotsinch Road. The project will be home to 100 children from 0-5 yrs and as such we were keen to create a child scale building which would enhance the learning process and not patronise it's users. Externally, an Eastern White Cedar shingle skin is carved into creating a gently glowing entrance and covered play areas. This variation of material provides a reference to the journey through time the children shall experience at the nursery (the ageing process of the shingles) and also a diaphanous, intriguing series of spaces through which the children shall enter and exit the spaces (formed from backlit polycarbonate panels). The tactile variation of the external skin serves as a contrast to the more neutral interior providing the user with a more complex spatial experience. This takes the form of the compression and release of the controlled entrance to the top lit shared breakout space, which acts as the spine of the building. This shared space allows an interaction between children of all ages in a controlled internal space with diffuse light flooding the space from the full length cupola which in turn is wrapped with lace curtains. The play areas stem from this space providing direct access to the landscaped play areas through full height sliding glazed screens allowing the children a constant reference with the outside world. The £1.5M project is aiming for a completion date of May 2010. Happitots Nursery Paisley images / information from Atkins