The Willows Early Learning Centre, Christchurch

By Smith Architects

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The Willows Early Learning Centre in Christchurch can be described as a ‘pavilion in the park’, where a modulating, geometric roof forms a tree-like canopy over the building.  The timber frame building is simple and functional, where the form and organisation of interior and exterior spaces has been developed in direct response to the site. The low-lying, rectangular building sits centered on the site, with a sheltered outdoor playground nestled behind the building, and a carpark and drop-off point for parents at the front.

The five main playrooms are situated around the edge of the building, and all receive plenty of natural light through the extensively glazed façade. The entrance features a ‘pop-up’ roof, providing the centre with a light-filled, welcoming space for parents and children.

The roof structure is a framework of angled timber beams supported by joists, suspended under the primary roof structure. A series of triangular panels covers the timber framework to form the canopy that extends outwards over the edge of the building to create a sheltered threshold between interior and exterior spaces. The plywood panelling that features along the exterior structure brings warmth and softness into the building, and when sunlight is reflected from the timber panels, a warm luminous glow is created, lighting up the interior spaces of the building.

Professionals used in
The Willows Early Learning Centre, Christchurch

Smith Architects
Smith Architects
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About the
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Smith Architects is an award-winning international architectural practice creating beautiful human spaces that are unique, innovative and sustainable through creativity, refinement, and care.

Phil and Tiffany Smith established the practice in 2007. We have spent more than two decades striving to understand what makes some buildings more attractive than others, in the anticipation that it can help us design better buildings.

Recent advances in neuroscience and psychology have enabled scientists to unlock some of the reasons why we find certain works of art, objects and environments more attractive than others, and at the heart of it is simple Darwinian theory: if we find something attractive we will be more likely to choose that thing over another – be it a painting, a piece of music, a landscape or even a building.

At Smith Architects, we use these learning to inform our designs, striving to create beauty in everything we do, in the belief that beautiful spaces create better environments for human beings or ‘beautiful human spaces’.

We carefully integrates architectural, landscape, interior and furniture design skills to ensure projects achieve an holistic integrity that meets our client’s needs. At the core of our design rigour, we believe that modern, sustainable, research-based design delivers a successful project with innovative solutions that work for our clients.

Our Auckland, New Plymouth, and Arrowtown offices design and deliver projects ranging from refurbishments to new-builds; from domestic scale to urban master plans; from conception to completion. Our experience covers a broad range of typologies – masterplans, mixed-use schemes, residential; offices; cultural; educational; healthcare and childcare.

We work with a diverse client base, including developers, private, government and charities and have experience of working with multiple stakeholders on challenging sites around the world.

We are a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC), Site Safe New Zealand, and the Sustainability Business Network.

At ArchiPro we recognise and acknowledge the existing, original and ancient connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to the lands and waterways across the Australian continent. We pay our respects to the elders past and present. We commit to working together to build a prosperous and inclusive Australia.