Aoibhneas Childrens Centre
Dublin, Ireland
The project brief requied a new childrens centre adjacent to the existing Aoibhneas Womens refuge, a safe haven for victims of domestic violence.
Our scheme aims to create a temporary home from home an environment whereby children can start to re-establish their trust in the outside world. Our approach has been to create age-appropriate play areas alongside places for homework, art production and therapy sessions. These will provide secure spaces for children to spend time alone and/or with their families.
Our new wing occupies the northern corner of the triangular site. Essentially this project adopts the idea of a traditional walled garden, formed by a new folded roof ‘canopy’, a slate surface which weaves it way through the site creating 4 new external gardens protected from the main road and allowing the centre to maximise solar gain.
Each garden has a unique condition for play and therapy formed by different planting strategies. The ‘Winter Garden’ an ETFE covered space where exotic flowers and vegetables can grow; the ‘Lawn Garden’, a multi-use space for sports; and the ‘Secret Garden’, an outdoor play area for younger children, bounded by local wildflowers.
Internally a new entrance sequence is established creating a less institutional presence on the street. The kitchen forms the heart of the centre with an open plan sequence of spaces extending into the garden each with varying degrees of privacy and light, each can be subtly closed with sliding walls during meetings and therapy sessions.
