Buitenschoolse kinderopvang Kortemark

Following the closure of a local Flemish Community school, the council commissioned B-ILD to convert the existing prefab pavilion into a childcare facility. The architects relied on vigorous geometry to make the building equal to its fragmented surroundings and to organise its interior. A cladding of symmetrical façades with masonry in white wire-cut brick and bevelled window recesses that invite one to lean against them was set around the retained concrete skeleton. Inside, the open space between the ceiling with its visible concrete beams and the red floor is divided up by a centrally positioned hexagonal wooden volume. This contains all the service areas for the childcare programme. Around it, to the left and right, are two play areas for two groups and at the back is a small classroom for homework. Internal windows enable the carers to keep an eye on the children in the homework classroom from the kitchen in the central hexagon, though two recesses for reading avoid such surveillance.

This text is based on the essay of Maarten Liefooghe, which has been published in the Flanders Architectural Review N°14. When Attitudes Take Form