Maki Kindergarten, Kawaijuku-Gakuen Educational Institution

The new building relocation plan for Kawaijuku-Gakuen Educational Institution Maki Kindergarten, which opened in 1970, aimed to realize a “kindergarten that nurtures kids’ curiosity and interests.” It is located on a flat area in the center of an irregularly shaped site with a difference in elevation. The building surrounds the playground from three sides facing a hill on the south side. The east side of the building is a zone for staff and administration, and the west side is for parents, a part of which became a vegetable garden open to the local community. Inside the building, elaborated spatial design inspires children’s curiosity, such as small play areas and dens created under the stairs and in the library, windows to look inside the kitchen room, and a cylindrical staircase with glass blocks and top lights for natural illumination. The net equipment in the stairwell and outdoor bouldering wall on the cylindrical staircase encourage kids to play around, up and down, inside and outside the building, using their entire body and all five senses.