Kindergarten Guggachpark, Zurich, Switzerland

Decorated outside, colorful inside: That’s what parents and children see at the new Kindergarten Guggach.
 
Guggachpark in Zurich is a modern housing development for families, students, singles, couples and seniors. Residents can live away from the hustle and bustle of the city center here but close enough to the city, the ETH campus and in the immediate vicinity of the Käferberg recreation center. The residential area is laid out in a circle: In the center is a common courtyard and a kindergarten. 

The kindergarten was planned by the Swiss firm Knapkiewicz & Fickert. The exterior design of the kindergarten and courtyard was planned to be kid-friendly with stars, circles and floral patterns. The patterns were embossed into the exposed concrete with the help of RECKLI formliners. 

Because work was carried out with cast-in-place concrete, the RECKLI formliners with custom patterns were applied directly on the construction site. 52 matrices with 12 different arrangements of the patterns were inserted into the formwork by the Specogna AG construction company before the concrete was poured. Parts of the concrete surface were washed to stylistically contrast with the plinth area.