China

The project is located in Sanshenghuaxiang, Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It is a Chinese demonstration base for Danish forest preschool education courses cooperating with VIA University college. ZESO is a comprehensive consultant in the project, providing services such as architectural renovation design, brand planning, and Danish educational architecture consulting.

Danish forest pre-school education is aimed at children between the ages of three and six, and encourages children to play, explore and learn spontaneously in the forest or in the natural environment, regardless of the weather. Teachers only assist, rather than leading children’s activities like traditional preschool.

 The Danish government attaches great importance to education. 13% of the state tax is used for education, and the overall level of education development is relatively high. Denmark ranks sixth in the comprehensive ranking of the world’s early childhood education levels, as assessed by the renowned international news and business weekly The Economist.

 Danish children spend a lot of time outdoors rather than stay at classrooms. Outdoor is the most important game environment for children. The school provides children with a natural, ecological and open outdoor environment for them to play, run, play in the sand and play in the water. Sand pools, woods, and grasslands all maintain a natural and random condition.

 Studies have shown that long-term outdoor play has a positive impact on children’s development, especially in terms of balance and agility. In addition, these children have better physical coordination, tactile sensitivity and perception than their peers.

 Brand Planning

As the comprehensive consultant, ZESO named the project “Bulbul (Danish means nightingale)” from the fairy tale “Nightingale” by Danish writer Andersen. This fairy tale expresses a yearning for beauty, freedom and kindness. As the source of logo, it can be combined with the kindergarten’s educational philosophy, so that ignorant children can feel the goodwill of the world.

this story is closely related to China in the Danish fairy tale because using a Chinese emperor as an important role. As an international kindergarten, the source of the name can express our international vision and our wish. The pronunciation of “Bulbul” is catchy, full of childlike children’s sounds; when it is read, naturally people will become lively, that is the atmosphere we want to create.

Logo Design

The logo designed by ZESO is made up of natural elements. Leaves and birds make it easy to think of the concept of “being close to nature”. The composition of the logo itself is rich and interesting. Besides, ZESO recommends that those colors can be used in the exterior and interior of the building to make education concept and building coordinate. Various color not only enriches the building, but also makes it full of interest. ZESO designed seven logos, and the partner’s young daughter chose this one, which shows that from the child’s point of view, the form and intention expression of this logo is more childlike and can make the child resonate with the soul.

Building Renovation

The project has 2,000 square meters of natural groves and 1,300 square meters of outdoor venue. The building was used to an abandoned residential house. ZESO has transformed its indoor and outdoor environments, including 10 indoor event spaces, to meet the needs of forest pre-school education.

· exterior renovation

Sanshenghuaxiang, where the project is located, is a famous scenic spot and flower base. Therefore, a silkworm cocoon channel with roses is designed at the entrance of the park. It is both a guide for sight and a shaded area for parents who are waiting to pick up children.

There are a number of tents in the outdoors for children to shelter from the rain or shelter from the sun during outdoor activities. There are also a variety of equipment for climbing, drilling and tumbling. In order to fit the project concept, we all adopt natural materials to minimize the manual processing of the equipment and try to combine the activities with the terrain.

We also built concentric circular structures around a tree on the outside of the building.

This structure not only expands the connection between the interior and the exterior, introducing nature into the interior, but also adding an activity platform to the second floor.

· Interior renovation

In addition to the space that meets the needs of general kindergarten functions, we have also designed an indoor gymnasium with climbing walls, a ground kitchen that can exercise children’s hands, pottery workshops, woodworking workshops, a Natural Museum that expanding children’s knowledge, as well as a psychological healing room for children to self-recognize.

Use the corners of the room to design a “small space” that can be separated from the outside space, creating the possibility of “independence” for children.

The design of furniture and space is based on the scale of the child and respects the needs of the child. Soft materials and pillows are placed in some rooms to make it safer for children to play on the ground.

Visually connected holes are provided on the walls between rooms, and children and adults can see each other’s activities.

The interior walls are warmly coloured and wooded to create a warm atmosphere. In the main room, bulbul’s logo which made of color paper and wood hangs on the wall. The special function space is decorated with the corresponding theme, such as the woodworking workshop, which uses the wooden crafts made by the children as the decoration of the room.