Colourful metal cladding extends across the front of this daycare centre in the Finnish city of Espoo, which encloses a secluded playground to its rear.

Painiitty Daycare Centre was designed by Helsinki studio AFKS for a site in the city's Lintuvaara district, which is lined on its northern edge by a busy road.
The site conditions prompted the architects to propose an angular U-shaped plan that extends around a courtyard and playground to the south.

The building's northern elevation is the tallest and longest side, with a surface that rises to a sharp corner at its eastern end where the maintenance yard and parking areas are located.
A narrow plaza that extends along the front of the building provides the centre and neighbouring apartments with an outdoor space set back from the road. An entrance intended for evening use is accommodated in this facade.
At the rear of the building is a sheltered courtyard that provides access to the daycare centre's group spaces, hallways and cafeteria, as well as the main playground.
The elevations flanking the courtyard feature eaves across which the striped cladding continues, while the facades beneath are covered with contrasting white-painted wooden boards.

"The facade materials emphasise the difference in the nature of the building's different sides," said the architects. "Actively colourful sheet metal cladding facing the street and a gentle, sheltered background with wooden cladding for children's play."
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