Timber and rubber are among the natural materials used at this nursery in Stoke-on-Trent, which British practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has designed to echo an adjacent nature reserve.
Named Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School, the building is located in a former car park at Staffordshire University and provides childcare services for its students and staff, as well as teaching facilities for its own education department.
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has created a nursery in Staffordshire
As part of the project, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios also created a forest school to support an outreach programme in Stoke-on-Trent focused on providing nature-based learning for children.
The studio's design supports this initiative by ensuring all of the facilities bring children and staff in close contact with the natural surroundings. It provides childcare and teaching facilities for Staffordshire University
"The nursery has a seamless connection with its woodland setting, supporting an adaptable and holistic learning environment that can encourage education through nature, play and adventure," said Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios partner Simon Branson.
"Using a highly insulated pre-fabricated timber structure for the construction, plentiful north and west light from the rooflights and natural ventilation, it not only has a low impact on the environment but a connection to it, allowing its users to benefit to the utmost," he told Dezeen.
The building is...