The close connection with nature, the proximity of the river and the forest are the values that make Skulte kindergarten special. It is an environment that, without the involvement of adults, is educational, promoting the child's development, growth, natural curiosity and joy. We want to strengthen this opportunity - for the children of Skulte to grow up in interaction with the surrounding nature - by building a preschool around the courtyard, facing south, the forest and the river. It is a protected, sunny, safe environment for children to spend most of the day.

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A two-story gallery around the inner courtyard creates wide terraces that can be used for outdoor lessons in the immediate vicinity of the groups, providing the opportunity to organize the learning process outside the group rooms. Overhangs created by the gallery shade the indoor spaces in the summer, protecting the rooms from overheating. In rainy and windy weather, they create the opportunity to stay outside more often. In the gallery, it is possible for children to sleep in the fresh air for a day.

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The building was designed respecting each child and his needs, paying special attention to the appropriate scale of the environment for the child, creating an accessible, safe environment where the child can act freely even without the help of an adult.

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Team: NOONSOON, Liena Šiliņa, Patrīcija Baltiņa