Garden of the school and kindergarten in Koloděje

Location: Koloděje, Czech Republic
Study: 2015
Construction: 2016
Authors: Marcela Steinbachova, Pavlína Malíková
Cooperation: Vít Holý
Fine solution of garden objects: Josef Dvořák, Stanislav Špoula
Photo: Andrea Lhotáková, René Volfík
Garden was created with the suport of Proměny foundation.

Crossing Rokytka, wades, car repairs, harvests, the Vidrholec forest, bandits, trees, bushes, fields and May meadows… all of these are imprinted on the theme of the solution for the garden of the kindergarten and primary school in Koloděje. The main motif is a distinctive red path, which expresses a journey through history, various natural local habitats and elements and connects the originally fragmented garden and leads children to explore and have fun.

The project was created thanks to the contribution of the Transformation Foundation and thanks to the parents who were behind the project. The reconstruction of the garden then took place in cooperation with local residents and parents in the form of voluntary brigades and assistance.

Koloděje are named after the wheelwrights who made their living by repairing the wheel arches of wagons. The shape of the rings and wheels is developed several times in the design, mostly in plan. The red path takes children through the garden and offers them various stops. It starts in the valley, lines around fields, meadows, alleys, rocks and sculptures of trunks through fords, sand areas and tunnels into the forest, around a birch grove leads to the city (playground). Children experience various experiences inside and outside it, connected with the cycle of nature, mainly on elements of a natural kind. The playground is composed of a large sand surface with a water pump and a pond, a large trunk conceived as a work of art (František Dvořák) and a composition of basalt stones (Stanislav Špoula). Flowering meadows with utility and ornamental perennials, a herb and vegetable garden and a place for an outdoor classroom are used to teach gardening. Meetings of the local community and screenings of social school performances will take place in the space on the surface of the sports field, which is given a more precise shape in the design and is lined with logs for sitting.