New wooden daycare centre is the first of its kind in Oranienburg

In a new residential area in Oranienburg in Brandenburg (Germany), Knoche Architekten from Leipzig created the “Baumhaus daycare centre” entirely in wood. The large amount of wood and other building materials create a unique feel-good atmosphere for around 100 children and their caregivers.

The new Baumhaus daycare centre is the first of its kind in Oranienburg to be built entirely in wood. It is located north of the “White City”, a former factory settlement of Heinkel Flugwerke from the 1930s, which has been extensively renovated since 1994. On a gross floor area of 1,504 square metres and a usable area of 1,100 square metres, the daycare centre can accommodate around 100 children in preschool and nursery age.

The two-storey, light-flooded building with a green flat roof and photovoltaic system is characterised by an ecological construction and was therefore among the nominees for the German Sustainability Award for Architecture 2025.

Multi-layered façade and peripheral larch timber battens

A multi-layered façade of large, vertically divided windows and a parallel grid of grey larch wood strips makes the daycare centre look inviting from the outside. This impression is further reinforced by a circumferential canopy that creates a connection from the inside to the outside. The materials used are largely degradable and recyclable. In addition, only local woods such as larch, oak and coniferous wood are used.

Wood is predominant in the interiors as well

Wood also dominates the interior of the spacious and open-cut building. Beams made of untreated wood are visible on the ceilings and walls in the differently coloured rooms for four nursary groups on the ground floor and for six daycare groups on the upper floor. The wide, central staircase, which connects the areas via a foyer, is also made entirely of wood.

Wooden window frames and furniture painted in pastel colours, where the wood grain remains visible and tactile, harmonise with light walls and floors in subtle pastel colours. The feel-good atmosphere is rounded off by light Troldtekt acoustic panels, which significantly increase the quality of stay in the nursary thanks to their acoustic properties.