Project by: Chris Smith, Ciara Wade, Angela Che Jin Lee, Yang Zhi
Set in Montreal, the project responds directly to a climate marked by long, cold winters, significant snowfall, and strong seasonal variation. The daycare is conceived as an environment that does not resist these conditions, but frames them as part of daily experience. A highly insulated straw envelope retains heat while organizing space as a gradient from warm interiors to protected outdoor areas. This layered approach allows for controlled exposure to the elements, enabling children to engage with seasonal change in a safe and intentional way. The design combines a high-performance straw envelope with the practice of outdoor napping. Thick straw walls provide exceptional insulation while also creating inhabitable depth; spaces for sitting, observing, and playing at the threshold between inside and outside. Within this envelope, a sequence of environments unfolds, moving from enclosed, heated rooms to semi-protected transitional zones and finally to open-air sleeping areas. Children transition gradually from classrooms to sheltered outdoor galleries, where they nap in strollers protected from wind and precipitation yet exposed to fresh air and shifting weather conditions. Materially, portions of the straw are left exposed to foster tactile and visual engagement, allowing children to understand the building as a natural, insulating system.
