Teeple Early learning centre

EARLY LEARNING CENTREUniversity of Toronto

By: Adrian Bica, Dimitri Karopoulos, Shiloh Lazar, Sebastian LubczynskiBy: Adrian Bica, Dimitri Karopoulos, Shiloh Lazar, Sebastian Lubczynski

TEEPLE ARCHITECTS EARLY LEARNING CENTRE PG. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Materiality

Expression of Form Through Materiality

Expression of Detailing

Criticism

Alternatives Through Wood

Alternatives Through Concrete

Alternatives Through Brick

Conclusion

References


Introduction

The University of Toronto Early Childhood Center, designed by local fi rm Teeple Architects, is a exploration between space and early childhood development. The essence of the project is to embody an enriched range of spatial experiences that spark the imagination, and encourage multiple interpretations and extended opportunities of play. Uniting several disconnected campus childcare facilities , this facility accommodates 100 children in a two and a half storey building that incorporates shaded outdoor play space at every level. The design provides visual stimulation, variety, and protected outdoor play spaces in a highly interconnected environment. The site lying just west of Robarts Library at the on a small residential street, allows for an interesting interaction between the natural environment. This is demonstrated through the use of a palette of natural materials, enclosed amongst a tree house like setting to the south. The materials begin to further explore this relationship between site and context and begin to reciprocate a relationship toward the design intent through arrangement of materiality and methods of detailing. The material selection is broad reading into the natural palette, opening opportunities for a variety of visual expressions.


Programmatic Functions

The internal program dictates the volumetric form on the exterior.

In attempt to explore the relationship between space and early childhood education, interior spaces have been created that function on a variety of different social, visual, and interactive levels. This is demonstrated through the loft spaces in the class room areas, as well as in a central ramp. The central ramp is a interesting design feature, it provides the most fundamental social and functional connective tissue in the building, doubling as circulation and from the children’s point of view, as an indoor playground/racing ramp that also functions as an adventurous passage to the second floor. Internal spaces play with volumes in attempt to optimize light and transparency to increase the inter-activity between interior and exterior spaces. In addition, openings have been provided on the perimeter of the floors allowing the interaction across vertical plans as well as horizontal ones.

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

East - West Section

The ramp can be seen connecting the first and second floors through a slope permitting other activities while allowing the viewing of the outdoors, further bridging the gap between indoor and outdoor, functional and play spaces.


Materiality Material selection is an art of intent and response. A material scheme cannot be a secondary thought in the design process, but a responsive system. The rationale between the material selection, for Teeple’s Early Learning Center, can be analyzed through three dictating factors, interior programing, site conditions, and overall design strategy.

Material As Result of Interior Programming The exterior material selection and facade design, can be decoded as an expression of the interior functions of the program. The interior programmatic differentiation is expressed through a contrast of mainly galvanized steel, steely-gray brick, and vision glass. This is clearly visible in the composition of the north facade, where the steel gray brick anchors the administration and service program of the building; the brick material is an expression of a traditional dependable building material, a formal expression of strength and grounding of the administration program.

The south facade continues to refl ect its interior program, through a composition of galvanized steel and vision glass expressing the childcare areas, the dominant program of the building. The galvanized steel and vision glass read, as lightweight playful materials, which are exemplifi ed by the subtraction of the exterior volumes. The playful interior play continues on the exterior facade and displays the intended material to program relation that Teeple architects were drawing from.

Material As Result of Site Conditions

The natural site conditions are gracefully considered, a signature design detail of Teeple architects, which is demonstrated through carefully accented wood material

treatments in the facade. The site lies adjacent to a small park and the building site itself is encompassed by mature trees. The envelope expresses fl ashes of inspiration from the surrounding green environment through wood treatments which directly correspond to the placement of mature trees. This is successfully demonstrated in the north facade where two large trees lie directly in front of an expressive wood treatment. The south facade continues to respect the natural growth on the site, and the building itself wraps around a existing walnut tree which is played off through grounded wood treatments. The act of wrapping the materials and form around a mature walnut tree speaks volumes, and expresses the attention to site and response to site, that Teeple Architects have respectfully depicted gracefully.

Material As Result of Design Parti The material expression carefully codifi es the essence of the project, a exploration between interactive spaces and early childhood development. This is best exemplifi ed through the architectural play of visually interactive volumes of galvanized steel and vision glass. Although the initial material selection wasn’t galvanized steel panels, the galvanized steel paneling in conjunction with the vision glass demonstrates the simple concept of playfulness of interior learning spaces, and optimize light and transparency into the childcare program spaces.


Expression of Form Through Materiality The Early Childhood center design is rooted with principles that govern all good architecture, a design resultant from a combination of program requirements and the relationships of the programmed spaces. As the essence of the building was exploration between space and early childhood development, a key design feature was allowing the spaces to view into each other and into the wider world. While the massing was determined by the arrangement of the spaces and the circulation within these spaces the materials articulation both in the interior and on the exterior had much to say about the designer intended for the expression of the spaces.

Essentially the articulation of the plane and solids gives the impression that the shapes are fl oating independently of each other. Looking at the analytic sketch (Red and Blue) it appears as though the solids are concentrated in the center from which the planes are being breaking away from.

If the stone area (the administration) is assumed to be the central point from which the other masses disperse from, it can be inferred that the intention is to have the material seem lighter the further away from the core effectively creating a gradient of material. By choosing materials and arranging them in a gradient defi ned by the apparent weight of the material, the choice of material then reemphasizes what was intended by through the concept. Looking at the facades the main geometric masses are further broken up by the arrangement of the material on the facades. If the design concept is to explore the relationship between space and early childhood development then one way that this can be expressed is through opening up the masses to reveal what lies behind/outside the solids. To further elaborate on this, a volume containing a play area will be considered. The volumes are composed of masses and planes as opposed to solids with openings. By composing the facades in this manner it appears as though the solids are being exploded to reveal what lies behind. Considering the fact that the play areas were intended to peer into both the interior spaces and give vistas into the exterior, by creating frames defi ned by the separation of planes from each other the spaces created within gives a much more dynamic impression which can be interpreted as though the barriers which bind an enclose the space-ultimately these spaces are opened up and the activities within are expressed.


Expression of Detailing As the facades are limited to one surface, the materials alone would not be able to give the impression of independent solid forms from which planes are being pulled away. It is through detailing that these forms begin to express solids and planes. There are several details which aid in defi ning the planes and the projecting solids.

The projecting solids are demonstrated through the most typical and repetitive detail throughout the building, the metal paneling to curtain wall abutment assembly. Within the curtain wall units there are galvanized infi ll steel panels which fulfi l the function providing an opaque surface. In detailing the volumes in this way, the facades would read as fl at surfaces with different material panels. By detailing the volumes using the projected wall assembly the designer’s intent of expressing solids and planes was realized.

Another frequently used detail is located at the tops of the volumes, the roof slab assemblies. Simply put, by having fl at roofs without a noticeable parapet, the roofs were allowed to become thin planes.

A secondary wall detail is used, differently from the other wall assembly detail mentioned above, in that this detail occurs where a wall seems to be penetrating the surface of the facade. This detail reemphasizes the independence of the planes from the solids and the idea of the shift or separations that are taking place between them.

The last signifi cant detail that will be spoken about is at the North West corner of the building, above the administration building. Where the stone meets the stucco soffi t, there exists a small recessed joint which is small and deep enough to give the impression that the balcony above is fl oating independently of the wall beneath.

Overall the details come together to express the materials in a manner which ties into the overall design scheme, the exploration and expression of the childcare program spaces.


Criticism

As we glance through a building, our vision is constantly touching the surrounding environment. Thus we are able to experience the building through the sense of materials. As the materials change, building by building, they can alter our perception of that structure and change the experience both visually and physically.

Not only is the type of materials chosen important, but the overall material composition is vital to the success or failure of the intended architectural expression. With a minor change in material palette, the intended expression can completely disappear or enhance the buildings form.

The Early Learning Centre is composed of a variety of intersecting rectangular forms, wrapped in minimal material palette; steel-grey brick, galvanized sheet steel, wood, perforated steel, and glass. As one approaches the day care’s main entrance from the east, up the concrete ramp equipped with steel railings, fl anked by the administrative wing to the south, wrapped in the steel-grey brick, the building gives off a cold vibe instead of the welcoming intent of the architects for a day care design. As the terrace fl oats overtop the ramp, creating a canopy, the soffi t treatment becomes questionable. Introducing stucco as the soffi t fi nish instead of the wood that is being used in another location gives the building inconsistencies not only in material but also in the overall architectural expression.

Perforated steel is an interesting element to use as a guardrail because it allows for the children, playing on the terraces, to still be visually stimulated and connected with the built environment. This intent of connectivity is highly exemplifi ed here with the perforated steel but when it comes to dealing with the material property, texture, color, feel, it can still be considered a very cold and hard material. Alternative materials could have been considered that are more welcoming to a child and still express the intended design concept.

West Elevation

South Elevation

Entrance to exterior play spacePrinciple entrance


Alternatives Through Wood

When introducing new material palettes for a specifi c kind building typology it is always important to keep in mind the type of client the building is going to serve and the its overall function.

As mentioned previously, The Learning Centre has a very lightweight, but yet cold, facade due to the choice of galvanized sheet steel being used. An alternative material choice that could have been possibly more successful than the chosen one is wood paneling. With the wood paneling it is possible to create the same kind of visual play that Teeple Architects were looking to achieve with the Learning Centre.

The Faculty for Economics and Management for the University of Utrecht, Netherlands , designed by Mecanoo Architects, uses a wood paneling scheme for their facade primarily within the Zen garden located in the buildings court yard. The concept of a Zen garden is to bring the user a more natural environment to interact with. The play on window location and panel sizing gives a high level of play with the design and experience of the building.

The possibility of the Early Learning Centre using this type of material for their facade to express the same level of intent is highly probable and plausible. Wood is considered to express that natural material palette that Teeple was intending in their design. Its a warm material, natural, and more welcoming than the use of a galvanized steel. It would also not hinder the expressive volumetric form of the building but embrace it. At the detail level, the wood paneling would alter slightly how two different materials come together, but not to the extent of changing the visual intent of the buildings facade.

The Early Learning Centre does introduce the use of wood on a small scale in the design of the facade, but it does not have the overall effect it should have as an element because its over shadowed by the use of the galvanized steel.

Faculty for Economics and Management, Utrecht, Netherlands




Conference Pavilion, Weilam Rhein, Germany



Alternatives Through Concrete

The notion of concrete is that it can create any form the designer wants. When detailed properly concrete can be very expressive in its overall expression.

Tadao Ando’s Conference Pavilion, located in Weilam Rhein Germany, is a good example of how expressive concrete can be as a fi nished material. Exposing the construction process is what ultimately is gives the buildings their character. Using concrete in this form allows Tadao to create interesting spaces that are interconnected both internally and externally to the environment.

The volumetric form of the Early Learning Centre is, as mentioned, composed of rectangular volumes projecting out in certain areas, highlighting the interior function. If the building was to be designed and constructed in the same manner as Tadao Ando’s buildings, with the concrete exposed, the buildings envelope would read tremendously different. The building would achieve a certain level of design intent in terms of its play with glazing locations and volumetric expression, but at the human scale the overall perception would not be welcoming. Concrete has a tendency to have a cold perception associated with it because of its natural colour and material property.

At the level of design consideration and design expression, the concrete form would generally be perceived as a heavy mass which is hard to manipulate. Since the architects intentions were for the building to be perceived as playful, the concrete would not be the proper material to chose to fulfi ll the necessary requirements of a light “pod like” pedals.


Alternatives Through Brick

The notion of concrete is that it can create any form the designer wants. When detailed properly concrete can be very expressive in its overall expression.

Tadao Ando’s Conference Pavilion, located in Weilam Rhein Germany, is a good example of how expressive concrete can be as a fi nished material. Exposing the construction process is what ultimately is gives the buildings their character. Using concrete in this form allows Tadao to create interesting spaces that are interconnected both internally and externally to the environment.

The volumetric form of the Early Learning Centre is, as mentioned, composed of rectangular volumes projecting out in certain areas, highlighting the interior function. If the building was to be designed and constructed in the same manner as Tadao Ando’s buildings, with the concrete exposed, the buildings envelope would read tremendously different. The building would achieve a certain level of design intent in terms of its play with glazing locations and volumetric expression, but at the human scale the overall perception would not be welcoming. Concrete has a tendency to have a cold perception associated with it because of its natural colour and material property.

At the level of design consideration and design expression, the concrete form would generally be perceived as a heavy mass which is hard to manipulate. Since the architects intentions were for the building to be perceived as playful, the concrete would not be the proper material to chose to fulfi ll the necessary requirements of a light “pod like” pedals.


Conclusion

The material selection is not a simple one dimensional rationale but a multi-dimensional architectural interaction between program, site and design parti. The multi-dimensional rationale allows for more then a simple facade system, this design approach creates visually attractive and interactive material palette accomplishing a positive facade expression for the Univeristy of Toronto Early Childhood Living Center.


Reference List

Teeple, Stephen. Teeple Architects : Near Far. L’arca, 2007. Print.

http://www.teeplearch.com/

“Utrecht by Mecanoo Architecten.” Http://archporn.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/trip-11-faculty-of-economics-management-utrecht-by-mecanoo-architecten/. May 2009. Web.

Http://www.erickvanegeraat.com/architect/projects/faculty_of_economics_and_management_utrecht.htm

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