Play House

Architectural Review, The, March, 2000

A thoughtfully crafted building on the forest edge introduces children to the wonders of light.

On falling ground, at the edge of the forest, the Misteli day care centre for little children overlooks the outer Helsinki suburb from which their mothers go daily to work. It contrasts with the red bricks and white timber trim of the bungalows further down the slope in its patent solidity, natural wood and the finesse of its detailing, which can be sensed from a good way off.

Along, low solid building runs roughly from west to east on the site, with a storage wing slightly inflected from a right angle to meet it on a deck which forms a platform that runs clear through the main slab. Here is the forum of the little complex: the entrance, outdoor play space and meeting area. Here, the two blocks provide shelter and emphasis on arrival in much the same way (on another scale) that the seemingly arbitrary arrangement of elements gave a powerful protected entrance sequence to the folk art centre at Kaustinen in Ostrobothnia (by Kaira-Lahdelma-Mahlam[ddot{a}]ki, AR July 1998, p50).

In the day care centre, both section and materials of the main block change at the entrance. Individual home areas are contained in a heavy, solid, comforting structure formed of squared solid logs. This gives way to a high glassy box through which the floor plane of the entrance platform passes to unite the two sides of the building in a common play area.

To prevent this central space from overheating, the glass is protected by an external grillage of fixed wooden louvres which are cut back in places to give what must for small children be wondrous views of the sky. Immediately facing the external deck is a louvreless section of wall where light is modulated by raisable venetian blinds to provide visual continuity between external and internal play areas. (It seems a bit odd that there is no direct physical connection between the two places - the entrance doors are on each side of the deck.)

The central volume is a splendid space, full of light from the glass walls. In the middle is a small glass aedicule containing the pool for water-play. The whole of this central area is filled with light: the grey light of the Finnish winter brought into the middle of the building, or summer sunshine casting striated shadows onto the little children as they play, and giving them a subliminal notion of time and season.