Grin Sunray Kindergarten, dreaming Space in a Tree Hole. Design starts with a tree. We hope to create a tree that only exists in fairy tales and cartoons. The children climbed up and down and looked at each other. The children would have the chance to explore different tree cave spaces, sit in rows and chat about the world they discover. Caves are the most primitive form of architecture and the most innocent way for children to perceive space. We want this to be the place where children’s dreams begin.

The sun-filled atrium, with its curved surface encircling the children, is the space’s center and the starting point for exploration. The texture and shape of the atrium are designed in a smoothly curved combination so that it feels like being in a valley. The friendly and warm wooden texture allows every child to touch it at will. Caves in different sizes and shapes are the outposts for discovering fun things. The corridors connecting the atrium and the functional rooms while the staircase windows look at each other, creating more surprises for the children to play around with, also serve as the buffer and linking layer in the space, just like “branches” according to “Big Tree”.

It’s highly possible to find out children poking their little heads out at the cave holes. It matters more for children to have this small world to explore on their own rather than a symbolic and organized architectural experience. The cavernous entrance to the multi-functional hall is interspersed with the atrium and walkways to inspire children to explore. The classroom space is a complete square without division in a low-saturation color of warm grey. We hope that the “white space” for activity and “white space” of color will provide as many possibilities to give the freedom for children to arrange and decorate their classrooms.

From a tree to a dream space in a tree hole. Although those who are grownups might no longer be able to look at the world with “children’s eyes”, they are willing to create spaces for dreaming for the children to become the person he or she has fantasized about being.