Kozy Kids, Glenside

Category:

Commercial

Delivery:

Lump Sum

Value:

$5.6m

Cook Building’s latest childcare facility project, located in Glenside, reached completion earlier this year. Kozy Kids opened its doors to their new purpose-built and architecturally designed centre, which provides first-class learning and play areas for up to 130 children. Honouring both old and new, an existing heritage-listed nurses’ cottage has turned over a new leaf having been restored into a state-of-the-art childcare facility, adjoining a two-storey new build of play and administration spaces.

The heritage building has been dissected into two spacious play areas, complete with kitchen and bathroom amenities, while the ground floor of the new build provides a further four open play areas enabling a well-flowing environment for the staff and kids. Each area includes a large outdoor play space with landscaping and top of the range play equipment tailored to the age group of each area.

The centre also houses a sizeable commercial kitchen and cool room allowing food preparation for the large number of kids enrolled. Upstairs, three offices, several multi-purpose staff rooms, a kitchenette, laundry, and an open terrace have been incorporated into the design. These offices were designed and built as a split-tenancy that can be accessed and operated independent of the childcare centre below.

As with most projects involving a heritage building, adapting the former nurses’ cottage came with its own set of design challenges in an attempt to meet today’s standards, along with Client expectations; the existing hardwood roof structure was reinforced to support the new 6m high ceiling and plant area above while keeping the trusses exposed, and several new openings within the original stone walls were created to install temporary propping, and the masonry repointed once again.

Working closely with the Client and Architect, Cook Building has managed to bring the tired building back to life, whilst preserving the cultural identity of this historic building.

Client | DBRB Investments

Architect | Evo Arc Adelaide

Engineers | PT Design & TMK Consulting Engineers