Toranoko Nursery di Takashige Yamashita Office

Fotografo: Kenichi Suzuki

A small nursery with a big roof.
This project is a small nursery in Yamanashi prefecture, Japan.

The site offers a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji. With some houses and farms spread out in its neighborhood, it creates a peaceful, but at the same time, a bit deserted atmosphere.

The client manages three elderly facilities at the site. They wanted to make a community space for the users of the facility and the local people in the middle of the site where it is surrounded by the three facility buildings. The idea was then developed and specified to create a lounge area for having a tea and a nursery to take care of the children in the local area.

Located in the center of the enclosed site, the roofs are lightly positioned in various angles, opening towards all possible directions to allow physical and visual approach from anywhere. Gentle curvature of the roofs creates a sequence of scenery, dividing garden, lounge, lunchroom, nursing room and office, while the spaces are still kept connected as one.

Children playing around, elderlies taking a rest, mothers chatting with each other, and cats basking in the sun – there is a place for everyone under the roof. Toranoko nursery is designed in hopes of creating a core space of the community where people gather around, as if under a big tree.

Structure system
A steel portal frame by H-100x100, which stands up from a footing beam of reinforced concrete, sets a boundary between rooms, then a 50x50 laminated veneer lumber (LVL) sits between the steel portal frames. To gain stiffness, LVL is wedged between two 9mm structural plywood. The roof can cover a large span of maximum 10m by just 86mm thickness. A soft and light curvature of the roof is achieved by utilizing wood, which can easily be manipulated into variety of form and size effectively. It thus would create a big open space filled with a warm atmosphere.