Kéré Architecture announces - and breaks ground - on new childcare center at Munich's Technical University

Kéré Architecture announces that building has begun on a new vertical childcare center at Munich’s Technical University (TUM), to be built in wood...

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From the architect: Kéré Architecture announces that building has begun on a new vertical childcare center at Munich’s Technical University (TUM), to be built in wood. The daycare center will be called "Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM" after the project’s financial patron. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on April 18 on the building site at Gabelsbergerstrasse 41, directly between the TUM main campus and the university canteen.

Ingeborg Pohl: “This building will serve several great purposes: First and foremost, it will help the mothers working at TUM by ensuring that the children are well looked after there during the day. In the company of their peers, they will be encouraged in their development, play, romping, and discovery.”

Located in the middle of TUM’s dense urban campus, the kindergarten will allow students’ children to be cared for in a high-quality environment. From the end of 2025, there will be space for 60 children with 700 square meters at their disposal. Kéré Architecture has designed the building’s entire interior, where children will find a series of spaces of various scales designed to spark creativity. Several floors are connected by slides, and the façade of the building highlights the playful energy of children.

Thomas Hofmann, President of TUM: “Something really great is being built here.”

The building will contain five floors, with administration on the ground level. Children‘s facilities are grouped by age across the middle three stories. The top floor is a covered roof terrace where the children can play and enjoy the sheltered outdoor space, with panoramic views across Munich. This outdoor play area will be called Himmelswiese, German for “field of the heavens”.

Francis Kéré: “When we build for the little ones, we want them to be able to run around outside and feel the elements. I would also like to colonize the neighboring roofs, starting by connecting our building with the roof of the cafeteria and turning that into a giant meadow.”

The new building within the TUM campus will be built mostly with timber, taking into account local norms and standards for energy efficiency, thermal comfort, fire protection and acoustics. This is aimed at minimizing the building’s carbon footprint while maintaining simple and high-quality construction in line with the philosophy of Kéré Architecture. The studio is collaborating with Austrian firm Hermann Kaufmann + Partner, who are experts in wood construction.

Francis Kéré: “We wanted to take the sustainability of the building to the extreme and build it entirely out of wood.”

Architect: Kéré Architecture
Location: Munich, Germany
Collaborators: Hermann Kaufmann + Partner ZT GmbH, Schwarzach
Structural engineering, fire protection, and building physics: TUM Prof. Stefan Winter bauart Konstruktions GmbH & Co. KG, Munich
Energy efficiency: TUM Prof. Thomas Auer, Munich
Technical building services: ITG-Ingenieurgesellschaft für TGA mbH, Munich
Landscape planning: JÜHLING & KÖPPEL Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Munich
Project control and construction management: GAPP GmbH, Munich