Chania Stay & Play

Chania Stay & Play is the new welfare building and neighbour park in Chania, designed by Land n Arch. The new welfare building will accommodate two distinct functions, the nursery and the day care center for the elderly, while the neighborhood park is addressed to both the users of the building and the residents of the surrounding area. The aim of the design is to find the relationship between building mass and outdoor open space that will produce different qualities of outdoor space, ranging from more private to public, and will allow the harmonious integration of the proposed building in the suburban environment of Chania, Crete.

Taking advantage of the natural land inclination, the building structure is developed on two levels, accommodating per level the distinct uses of the nursery school and the daycare center for the elderly. An enclosed, atrium structure is assigned to the nursery school, allowing for graded access to the outdoor play area, while the placement of the daycare center at the ground level allows the direct access to the extended outdoor space of the neighborhood park and the unimpeded use of the park infrastructure for recreation and everyday walks.

The nursery school is designed with a repetitive structure of its functional units around the atrium. The one-level atrium layout allows for the clear distribution of functions, with the symmetrical layout of those intended for infants and those serving infants along the north-south axis. It also allows the internal access to the outdoor area, which is well-protected and acts as a play area.

The atrium gives the building a bioclimatic character, while the approach followed is that of the utilization of solar energy, the local climate, as well as the properties of the materials. Eco-friendly materials are proposed, with the predominant presence of stone and wood.