千叶县的樱花幼儿园是一座可容纳60名学生的新幼儿园。整个项目的概念想法为“幼儿园是一个大家庭”。建筑师将这座位于南向缓坡上，被群山和森林包围的幼儿园设置成一个“大楼梯”。在这个阶梯式大空间中，不同年龄的孩子们能够自由的交互，三岁的孩子睡觉时也允许5岁的孩子在不远处玩耍。为了安全起见，建筑师尽可能减少空间中的视线盲点。

This nursery school in Sakura, Chiba was planned to accommodate 60 pupils. Seiyu-Kai, a local social welfare firm specializing in elderly care facilities approached us for this project. The overarching concept for this plan started with an idea: “a nursery school is a large house.”

Surrounded by mountains and forest, the southern area of the site rests on a gentle slope. Putting this topography to use, we designed the school room to resemble a large set of stairs.

One unique feature of this “large house,” for example, is that a 3-year old child is in the same room as a 5-year old and these children of different ages can interact in the wide, one-room space. Additionally, should a 3 year-old child be sleeping while a 5 year old child plays nearby, these differences in rhythm reinforce the “domestic” qualities of this “large house.” Keeping in line with Seiyu-kai’s longstanding (26-year) philosophy, we made it a priority to minimize the number of blind-spots within the room in order to keep safety measures as unintrusive as possible.

建筑的南北两侧设置了大型的滑动玻璃门，让风从南部进入，穿过室内如同森林般的内柱群，从北面的露台而出。此外契合地形的单面坡屋顶，让雨水顺坡留下，汇入南边的池塘。这座与众不同的建筑与环境的联系与互动是如此紧密，所以建筑也是谦虚的。

建筑师不仅成功的为孩子们建立一个有趣的空间，还为孩子们建立起一座融于自然的建筑。

Utilizing large sliding window frames along the northern and southern faces, along with the space created by the slope, ventilation is created as a breeze draws in from the south of the structure, passes through the forest-like interior pillars making its way upwards before finally blowing out across the terrace on the northern side.

A small pond on the southern end which gathers rainwater as well as water from sprinklers installed on the southward-slanted roof also contributes to the airflow as the water is absorbed into the wind that blows into the structure. This was part of a comprehensive plan to create a space that was inseparable from the environment that surrounds it. We believe that in pursuing the original concept of a “nursery school as a large house” we achieved something not unlike the houses in farming communities that surround it.

Our goal was to create a space that was not only fun for the children but via blending into the nature around it, foster an experience that was greater than the sum of its elements.

project name : Hakusui Nursery School Architect : Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop / Kentaro Yamazaki Location: Sakura-shi, Chiba, JAPAN Site Area : 1046.64 sqm Floor Area : 530.28 sqm Principle use : Nursery school Structure : Wooden Story : 2F start of construction and completion : January 2014 – November 2014 Structual design : ASD / Ryuji Tabata, Takayuki Tabata Facility design : yamada machinery office / Hiroyuki Yamada Graphic desing : SHUNPEI YOKOYAMA DESIGN OFFICE / Shunpei Yokoyama