EN
Show menu

News

First wooden kindergarten in Belarus

30. 12. 2015
The new kindergarten Vesninka  designed by Slovenian architect Jure Kotnik, opened its doors in the city of Minsk and stands as a great example ofa modern European sports kindergarten, built using the latest architectural standards and high quality natural materials which are environment and health friendly. Wood as a building material enables the healthiest living environment, it is environmentally sound and highly energy-efficient. The wooden prefabricated kindergarten Vesninka brings a number of innovations to the Belarusian environment. This is the first public facility certified A+ as the highest class of energy-efficient and energy-saving building. Moreover, it is also the first prefabricated wooden public building in Belarus.

The facility was built based on EUdesign guidelines and constructed with minimal modifications necessary to adapt to the Belarusian standards. The kindergarten represents a modern and different concept of construction and use of the building.

The essential solutions are represented by a playroom, which also serves as a bedroom with a large emphasis on play time as well as movement and motor learning for children. There is also a large common sports gymnasium, an amphitheater, etc. This kindergarten represents a pioneering project for children daycare, with an emphasis on openness, movement, sport and creativity. A lot of ideas in this area were contributed prof. Mojmir Flisek. The innovative solutions of the Vesnjanka kindergarten put it on the global map of modern day nurseries.

Apart from the traditional kindergarten program, the design of the kindergarten Vesninka also contains a number of elements which pay particular attention to the development of motor skills through play and sports. This is also reflected in the furniture.For example, school desks, which are also soccer goals, demountable stands with which we can create different spatial elements. A ballet hall, a sports gym with a climbing wall and a playground for games with a game console, which will undoubtedly place the kindergarten Vesninka on the top of technologically advanced sports kindergartens. Inside the kindergarten there is also a small space for theater and music, as well as a testing ground for learning traffic education, which passes through several playrooms and through a spacious multipurpose room. The rooms inside the kindergarten are designed to be open, so that the activities can be linked and complemented. The new kindergarten also differs from other children daycare institutions by the fact that there are no strict dividing lines between the spaces in the nursery and almost no corridors because the playrooms are accessed through the multipurpose room.

The exterior of the kindergarten has a specially designed area for a series of sports and other activities. There we find the first football field in the world that has an elliptical shape, an athletic platform and a multipurpose hill that will allow sledding, skiing and other motoric activities. Unlike traditional kindergarten, Vesninka has more free grass areas where one can organize various sports polygons orraces of cross-country skiing which is very popular in Belarus.

The design of the kindergarten, which will offer its hospitality to 100 toddlers, involved various experts in the fields of sports and education of children from different European countries. As a kindergarten with an emphasis on sport this project will certainly be an important enrichment of the existing network of kindergartens in the Belarusian capital.

The company Riko, who took over as the general construction contractor of the kindergarten brought together knowledge and solutions of many Slovenian companies: Riko Haus for prefabricated wooden structures and wooden facade, Inles  for external windows and doors, LINDAB IMP Klima for air conditioning, Mik Celje for ventilation with MIKrovents, Klima Petek for mechanical installations, LESING for interior furnishings and  Elan for sports equipment.