Eco-Cubby: footprint on the world

There has been some serious cubbying going on!

The children at Swinburne Prahran Community Child Care Centre have finished their design and cubby model.

We have been excited by the happenings at the centre and Architect Ben Statkus has been truely inspirational, not only in his dedication to the project (putting in many, many hours of his time) but also in the way he engaged with the children. The wonderful staff too have been dedicated and have supported the children's learning processes every step of the way.

The cubby design has been inspired by the existing plantings of bamboo at the centre. The final design has incorporated living bamboo plantings for the walls as well as a simple roof structure to divert water to the roots of the plants.

Staff are in conversation with Ben as to how to actually build (or in their case plant!) the cubby and will be working towards installing the cubby in their play area in 2012.

Swinburne Prahran Community Children's Centre Co-Op

Children at SPCCCC have been very busy exploring shapes and forms. Architect Ben Statkus from Statkus Architects has been inspired by the children's drawings. The children have been creating structures out of string to represent their drawings in a 3D form. They have also been exploring their outside space and have decided to site the cubby up the back of their playground next to the bamboo. This is a sheltered space and has good sun as well as shade. Children have had a wonderful time exploring their new ideas and imagining what kind of structure they could design.

 

Swinburne Prahran Community Children's Centre Co-Op

Here's a report from SPCCCC:

Our architect Ben Statkus came to visit us at the end of February. He was introduced to the educators, the kinder and the three year old children.  The children have been very excited about Ben working with them to develop an Eco-Cubby and their ideas have been unstoppable! Fantastical thoughts of multiple levels with drawbridges, trapdoors and moats, swimming pools, waterslides and rainbows poured forth from the children.

We were all very excited about the potential of what the building could be - especially with all of the inspiring ideas.

Ben returned the following week and showed the children images of different buildings from around the world. The children then spent some time with Ben discussing plans and looking at a 3D architectural model of a building he had previously designed.

A lot of activities happen at the centre and the project hasn't captured the imagination of all of the children at this stage. The educators decided to set up an Eco-Cubby work station in the hallway. This will be a designated meeting area for the children to exchange ideas, listen to Ben as well as engage with their peers. Setting up the workstation keeps the process visible to everyone involved with the centre.   

Some of the ideas so far...

“A place to play”

“For kids and grown-ups”

“I want it with no roof. A door instead of a roof and a ladder”

“A building for people to go, a tall pointy roof and a door”

“A roof garden”

“In a tree “

“Lots of little cubbies”

“A cubby that look like its broken but still works”

“Needs to be light really light”

“It could hold water”

“Some way to warm the water up...put it in the sun”

The next part of the journey is to go outside and begin looking at the site.

Architect Ben Statkus with children as they draw some of their cubby ideas

3D cubby sculptures made out of playdough