An environmentally friendly kindergarten in southern Dong Nai Province designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects Co. has won a Building of the Year Award conferred by US architecture magazine Archdaily.
Building, "Farming Kindergarten", in Bien Hoa City, won the Educational Architects category.
Overview of 'Farming Kindergarten'
Three other buildings by Vo Trong Nghia Architects were shortlisted in the awards -- "House for Trees”, in the Houses category, “Son La Restauran” in Hospitality Architecture, and “Green Renovation” for Refurbishment.
Nghia, who is mostly based in HCM City, has been feted as an emerging player in environmental architecture around the world. A major theme of his work is sustainable development and working with the environment to create buildings that focus attention on the need for green space amid rapid urbanisation.
Green space for children
"Farming Kindergarten" was designed to challenge the issues climate change and air pollution in big cities. Rapid urbanisation deprives Vietnamese children of green space and playgrounds, and the building accommodates 500 children of low-income workers at an adjacent shoe factory.
A major feature of the building is its rooftop gardens, which provide food and agriculture experience to the children.
Children provided with food and agriculture experience
Key to the design is a triple-ring shaped roof that encircles three courtyards encompassing open playgrounds. An experimental vegetable farm has taken root on the roof, growing five different vegetables in a 200 square metre garden.
The building is a continuous narrow strip with flexible windows to take advantage of cross ventilation and natural lighting and features a number of visible energy-saving features that serve to heat and cool the building, and generate solar power for water heating, as well as educate the children, who study how they work.
Wastewater from the neighbouring shoe factory is recycled to irrigate the gardens and to feed the flush toilets.
