A new nursery for The WonderWorks at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire. The WonderWorks are a new childcare provider catering specifically for the film industry, and this is their first permanent home.
The project involved converting a contemporary office suite into a children’s nursery. The suite offered plentiful daylight and a visual connection to an external garden, but the existing office building was clinical, sterile and not welcoming to a child. Our design revolved around creating an experience that felt warm, playful and inspiring to children.
Using recognisable motifs such as the house and the tree, we worked to create spaces that felt domestic, beginning at the entrance gate where a child-sized door welcomes children into a planted courtyard. The WonderWorks follow the Reggio Emilia approach to childcare, and this heavily influenced our philosophy: putting the child at the centre of the design, using understated, high-quality natural materials that create a canvas for them to learn and play. The palette includes cork floors, simple robust bespoke joinery in plywood and reclaimed scaffolding boards, and muted, calming colours, while high skirting boards and picture rails further domesticate the interiors.
A connection to nature is also key to the nursery’s philosophy, and we collaborated with the landscape designer to harmonise the two spaces, carrying the tree motif out onto the external covered atelier so that interior and exterior read as one.
Photographs by Tim Crocker
