all images © COBE

The construction of Prinsessegade Kindergarten and Youth Club has now begun, designed by COBE. The new kindergarten and youth club will be the largest daycare center in all of Denmark hosting 710 children, and the concept is to build not just one building but an entire village – a city for kids! Just like Copenhagen, the new city for kids will have different neighborhoods, houses, urban spaces, public squares, parks and even their own city hall, library, museum, restaurant, sports arena and fire station. The first children will move in at the end of 2016.

The site is a triangular plot wedged in between the freetown Christiania to the South, the urban blocks of Prinsessegade to the west and Aresenaløen and the canal to the east.

Prinsessegade Kindergarten and Youth Club will be the largest daycare center in all of Denmark hosting 710 children, aged 0-18. It presents a big challenge; how to avoid creating a daycare factory when building an institution for so many users. Therefore, the daycare center in Prinsessegade will be a city for kids. The design is not just one huge building, but rather a cluster of many small, varied buildings grouped around two central streets connecting to the surrounding city. And like Copenhagen, it has different neighborhoods, houses, public spaces, squares and parks - it even has a city hall, a fire station, a restaurant, a stadium, a factory and a golden ball sports cage on the roof.

How do you fit a building for more than 700 children in between Prinsessegade‘s solid urban blocks, Christiania's homegrown diversity and the lush green character of Arsenaløen?

Instead of making a 'daycare factory', we propose a kids’ city! Instead of sameness and uniformity, we propose variety and adaptation!

Copenhagen is characterized by a number of different neighborhoods, each dotted with special buildings or places that carry a particular history or meaning.

The daycare center on Prinsessegade is too large to conceive of as a single building. Instead, why not consider it in similar terms as Copenhagen? Different neighborhoods for different age groups. A general city structure for group rooms, landmark buildings and landscape for special functions. A city for kids!

A city for kids in the heart of Copenhagen

A city full of special buildings

A city with lush landscapes

site plan

View from Prinsessegade

Plan: ground floor. 0-6 year-olds

Plan: 1st floor. 0-6 year-olds

Inside the Restaurant

Common area

Plan: ground floor. 7-13 year-olds

Plan: 1st floor. 7-13 year-olds

Playground outside the Fire Station and the Factory

Plan: ground floor. 14-18 year-olds

Plan: 1st floor. 14-18 year-olds

A city full of special buildings!

The Fire Station: Of course the Fire Station is bright red. What else could it be? Being a unifying playscape, small kids have access to the ground floor, and bigger kids have access to the top. The Fire Station also works as a garage for moon cars. Also, this is where the grown-ups keep their gardening tools.

The Restaurant: This is where kids between 0-6 years of age sometimes meet and do lunch. Directly connected to the kitchen, kids help the chef make sandwiches and slice cucumbers. The top floor is a greenhouse to help tomatoes and sunflowers grow faster.

The Town Hall: This is where everyone can meet and perform a musical or have a Christmas party. On summer days, all doors open to face a wooden deck in the sun. The roof is clad in solar panels.

The City Gate: Facing Prinsessegade, a cage for ball games spans between two buildings. While creating a covered space beneath, the ball cage also pays homage to another famous gate in the neighborhood, namely the entrance to neighboring freetown Christiania.

The Factory: The 7 to 13-year-olds have their own factory! The factory is a great multi-purpose space with room for all sorts of activities. The Factory lies between the two after school units, and on summer days the factory can open its facade to the playground out front.

The Tower: All proper cities have a lookout tower. Period.

The parking garages: Bikes need parking spaces too. And Copenhagen has many bikes. These covered bike garages have tools for tinkering and pumps for flat tires.

The Beach Hotel: What is a beach without a beachside hotel? This particular beach hotel is hollow and made of metal, which makes it a perfect place for 7 to 13-year-olds to roast marshmellows over camp fires. Even on rainy days.

Project Facts