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Kindergarten Susi Weigel - Austria
Bernardo Bader
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Biography
Bernardo Bader is an architect from Krumbach, the Austrian region of Bregenzerwald, with the office currently based in Dornbirn, Austria. He studied architecture at the Innsbruck Technical University. After receiving his Diploma Engineer degree in 2001 he founded his own architectural office. His work investigates how architecture can be embedded in regional building culture and based on local architectural grammar. His projects bear witness to brilliance of handcraft, deep care of tectonic detail and sensitivity to the local context.
Bader is Member of Advisory Design Commissions as well as the Advisory Committee for Urban Contemplation in the Region of Vorarlberg. Since 2012 he has been holding a lecture position at the University of Liechtenstein in Vaduz. Besides a numerous local timber construction and client awards, he received a number of prestigious awards - including the Weissenhof Architectural Furtherance Prize 2007 for young Architects in Stuttgart, Germany and the Piranesi Award 2013 and was nominated for the DETAIL Prize 2012 and the Mies van der Rohe Award 2013.
In 2013 he received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Kindergarten Susi Weigel
Architecture: Bernardo Bader Architects | Dornbirn
Team: Joachim Ambrosig (PL), Sven Matt | Dornbirn
Colour scheme: Monika Heiss | Thaur
Colour scheme: Monika Heiss | Thaur
Graphic design: Brigitte Mumelter | Hall im Tirol
Site manager: Helmut Erhardt | Amt der Stadt Bludenz
Site manager: Helmut Erhardt | Amt der Stadt Bludenz
Structural enineer: Dr. Brugger & Partner ZT GmbH I Bludenz
Photograph: Adolf Bereuter | Dornbirn, David Schreyer | Wörg
Photograph: Adolf Bereuter | Dornbirn, David Schreyer | Wörg
Huge round cushions in shades of mustard yellow and cornflower blue add colour to the pale concrete and timber interior of this kindergarten in western Austria by local studio Bernardo Bader Architects. Bernardo Bader Architects designed Kindergarten Susi Weigel for the small mountain town of Bludenz and named it after the late children's book writer and illustrator Susi Weigel, who lived and worked locally until her death in 1990.
The two-storey building has a raw concrete structure, which is left exposed in parts of the interior. The architects sourced local fir to clad the outer walls and used acacia wood to line interior surfaces. The entrance to the kindergarten sits within a wide recess at the northern corner of the building, leading into a central lobby where children can hang up their coats and bags. A row of glass doors forms a second entrance to this space, leading out to a playground lawn at the side of the building, while a wooden staircase provides a clear route up to the first floor.
Spaces are divided up into different zones to create five classes. There are two on the ground floor and three upstairs, each with their own storages areas and toilets. The ground floor also features a sub-dividable space that functions as a canteen or group activity area, as well as a small office and meeting room. Glass doors create visibility through the building and are embellished with illustrations from Weigel's books.
