Curved walls make for smooth paths
As something completely unprecedented, a care home and a daycare centre in Gauerslund outside Vejle have been brought together under the same roof, with a shared entrance and facilities. An exciting space is the result.
The main building is beautifully situated in the landscape and seems to stand somewhat isolated with its special geometry. It is clear where the main entrance is for residents of the care home, kindergarten and nursery, but also for local residents who may attend a bingo game or lecture.
Everyone encounters a high-ceilinged space with skylights and the sense of an outdoor square with many adjacent streets when they enter the building. This is the focal point and with glass panels in the beautiful wooden door sections, there is a transparency that makes it easy to find your way around. The corners are rounded, which provides a pleasant experience of the building's traffic flowing easily through the corridors and rooms.
There are rooms for group gymnastics, chair gymnastics and obstacle courses, flexible meeting rooms and a reading room. All surfaces are a shade of white, enhancing the high ceiling effect. The textured and acoustic-regulating Troldtekt ceilings have a unifying effect on the rooms and provide continuity between functions.
Calm atmosphere
The individual kindergarten rooms are directly accessed from the forecourt, making it easier to get to the playground outside. From the main entrance, a “side street” leads past the building's large industrial kitchen to a nice common reception area, where a large, organically shaped wooden piece of "furniture” was designed to create a sense of calm around the children who arrive early. The kindergarten rooms are staggered down a corridor, which architecturally creates some natural niches that are ideal for play.
Like the rest of Kong Gauers Gård, the rooms are characterised by plenty of daylight and good room height. The nursery is separate, which provides a natural calm for the youngest children. Acoustic panels from Troldtekt were also used in the ceilings throughout the children’s section of the building, as well as on some of the walls in the group rooms. For the children, this creates a pleasant and safe room experience, and for the employees, a good working environment.
