The Kids City, Denmark

Danish architects COBE, Nord and PK3 have collaborated with Dutch engineering group Grontmij to create a mini city for children in Copenhagen, Denmark, known as the Prinsessegade Kindergarten and Youth Club.

The project has been conceived to cater to the increasing number of children living in the rapidly growing city (Copenhagen is predicted to swell by at least 90,000 people by 2025). At 4,200 sq m, with the capacity to host more than 600 children and young teens, the ‘mini city’ will be the largest municipal day care centre and youth club in the country.

Due to the immense size of the project, one of the main challenges was to avoid creating a space that resembled a huge factory, lacking in character. This was sidestepped by adopting a concept that emulates city planning; the design is effectively a triangular neighbourhood of small buildings, based around two main streets.

The mini city will include public parks, a stadium, public squares, a fire station, a city hall and a restaurant. The aim, according to the designers, is to ensure a diverse enough range of interior and exterior spaces; areas for high-energy activity and more relaxed play that allow all kinds of personality types to get involved.

The project is due for completion in 2014.

For more information on spaces created for a younger demographic, see our report, The Teenage Domain.

Nord Architecture

Cobe

PK3

Grontmij