The first four new buildings of the larger type have now been completed, a fifth building is under construction. Except for minimal variations, their floor plans are identical. The building volumes were, however, rotated and mirrored in order to fit them into the existing plots. The three storey longitudinal buildings offer room for eight daycare groups including required auxiliary rooms, staff offices and a complete kitchen for preparing meals on the topmost floor. Every group has access to a group room and an auxiliary room, while two groups each share an open wardrobe and a sanitary area.
The competition brief determined that the new daycare centres were to be preferably built from timber. Nearly all competition participants adhered to the rule - as did Karlundp, by proposing a structure consisting of cross laminated timber elements for walls and ceilings. A general contractor who is specialised in timber construction is involved in the realisation of all five daycare centres. The architects were responsible for planning phases 1 to 4 according to German regulations and created the master details, while leaving detail planning beyond this point to the timber contractor.
On each storey, the ceiling elements are placed on top of the exterior walls and a load bearing interior wall that follows the entire length of the building. Only above the large multi-purpose room on the topmost floor, a steel upstand beam bears ceiling element loads. The longitudinal wall is the only part of the building where the cross laminated timber is visibly exposed, featuring a glazed finish in light hues. In addition, there are numerous interior timber elements - such as the acoustic ceilings, the stair flights and the built-in furniture. The exterior walls, on the other hand, received an interior gypsum board facing shell that conceals the cross laminated timber and the electrical installations. They were installed on-site, while the remainder of facade elements was delivered by the timber contractor with windows integrated and elements clad in Douglas fir siding.
The balcony areas, extending along one of the longitudinal daycare centre facades, serve as open space, emergency exit and design element. Each new building was assigned an element that determines its colour scheme - blue for air, red for fire, yellow for earth and green for water. The balcony columns, beams and railings follow this colour scheme, as well as the emergency staircases on the narrow ends of the buildings and the expanded metal sun protection panels. The latter are structured into two levels with rigid connections in front of the balcony railing and as sliding elements in front of the balcony doors. Windows without openable French doors received simple textile screen sun protection matching the colour scheme of the location. In the interiors the colours reappear in the linoleum flooring and the wall tile of the sanitary rooms.
All buildings meet the German KfW 55 standard in terms of structural thermal insulation. Their compact building type and controlled ventilation with heat reclamation reduce energy demands. Heating supply for the daycare centres is provided either by municipal district heating or a heat pump, depending on availability on site.
