A natural education

The Edmondo Landi Nursery, in the village of Lavezzola in the municipality of Conselice (province of Ravenna), attains a new level of excellence in combining innovative green building criteria with a wide-ranging concept of a crèche and workshop, and confirms the important role played by Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region in the field of educational facilities for young children. It is a beautiful and innovative space, a functional educational facility that at the same time serves as a workshop for pioneering new teaching methods and promoting greater participation on the part of families.
Designed by architect Elisabetta Gagliardi together with surveyor Danilo Cesari on a 3,500 square metre site, the structure represents one of the most prestigious public investments seen in the nursery school sector in recent years. The site chosen was a residential area with low population density and low traffic and the project was designed in accordance with cutting-edge criteria in the field of green building. Key elements of the project included good exposure to sunlight, the absence of significant electromagnetic fields and a favourable acoustic environment. The result is a high-quality, environmentally sustainable work of architecture that is capable of ensuring a substantial reduction in the consumption of non-renewable energy through low operating temperature plants, the use of solar energy and the thermal resistance of the ventilated façade envelope.
The building extends over a single floor and comprises a number of functional areas including services, a centralised kitchen and various nursery spaces accessible via independent entrances.
A large entrance serving as a common space leads to four sections, furnished according to corners of interest and all equipped with resting areas and bathrooms. Each section communicates with the outside via four large arcades reminiscent of an open-air atelier, used in the summer months as a lunch area and play space. Much attention has also been devoted to the areas used by adults, including general services and parent spaces, reception areas and workshops.
The structure’s functionality is matched by its striking architectural style. This is evident at first glance from the outside, where the creativity of the project is enhanced by a successful choice of colours and materials, including glazed porcelain tile from LaFaenzaCeramica’s Amazzonia line which is used to clad the external ventilated facades.
The interiors feature a wealth of furnishings with different functions, materials that offer multi-sensorial experiences, delicate and calm colours, natural lighting that floods sideways into the building from both above and below, creating transparency and depth. It is a building that is attentive to dialogue with the outside, immersed in a habitat in which trees and shrubs serve as the backdrop for games and play equipment, a place where one can hear and experience what is happening in the outside world — the weather, the seasons and the time of day.