Josefinum child care centre, Leoben

Innovative timber construction: nursery school, crèche, after-school care centre.

The new building design is a timber structure to low-energy standards. All group rooms are situated on the garden side of the slightly curved part of the building, while all special-use rooms are located facing east, opposite the hall. All access on both storeys is through the central hall. The hall is cleverly subdivided by means of freely positioned sanitary and storage units, thus creating cloakrooms and multi-purpose areas. There was no need for any corridors.
The structural engineering and building services follow a simple concept optimised for wood: short spans and clear arrangement of piping in the suspended ceilings and facing formwork, that are required anyway for reasons of fire protection and acoustic demands. The three functional areas crèche, nursery school and after-school care are stand-alone units, although shared uses are possible.

adress: Erzherzog-Johannstraße 1a, 8700 Leoben
client: Kinderhilfswerk Josefinum Leoben und Stadt Leoben
planning: Nussmüller Architekten
team: Inge Nussmüller, Alena Malachova, Axel Kos, Nikolaus Schuster, Jakob Kocher, Heinz Kahlig
structural consultant: Josef Koppelhuber
completion: 02/2009