RYBAKOV Playschool
The creation of a pilot flagship children's educational center for the ambitious RYBAKOV PLAYSCHOOL project is a lucky chance!
Igor Rybakov, together with his wife, public figure Ekaterina Rybakova, foundd the Rybakov Foundation, which has been dealing with education issues for 5 years. In 2016 a program of preschool education "PROkids" was developed. It is based on the cultural and historical approach to education developed by Lev Vygotsky. It is aimed at developing children's skills of self-regulation, planning, independence and teamwork.
These developments will be used in kindergartens and schools of Rybakov PlaySchool. The educational goal is to form an independent personality by the age of 10, able to consciously build a further trajectory of their learning and development. The aim of the project is to organize a global network of new generation educational institutions designed to ensure the successful development of the most important stage in a person's life from 1.5 to 12 years. By 2035, 10 000 schools and kindergartens of the project are planned to be opened around the world.
Managers: Kirill and Elena Cheburashkin
Working group: Ekaterina Kalugina, Daria Safonnikova
Moscow 2022
Main hall
As the basis for the project, we had a modern typical kindergarten building and a hyper-motivated RP team - these were not typical tired entrepreneurs who asked for "cheaper and faster" - their eyes were burning; faith in the project was off the scale; they wanted the best for children, families, educators and specifically for their educational program.
The task was to design space and equipment with the possibility of further replication of solutions for the franchise. The game is embedded in the name PLAYSCHOOL. In all areas from the entrance group to the classrooms, we have provided game moments - interaction with the space in a playful way.
A whale and a baby whale greeting students, parents and visitors at the entrance to RYBAKOV PLAYSCHOOL are a symbol of stability, strength and care. RYBAKOV PLAYSCHOOL is the largest chain of kindergartens and schools, as the whale is the largest animal on earth. Whales are very sensitive to their children, accompany and protect them until the age of three, just as RYBAKOV PLAYSCHOOL accompanies children and parents throughout their studies.
A baby whale is a child and a family that the big one will accompany and protect until the end of primary school and only then let go to the "open sea" for a long voyage, where everything will be no longer bothering him.
Kindergarten
Play and study room
For classrooms, we have developed a series of mobile shelving with different functionality, allowing you to optimally implement the educational program of Rybakov Playschool. The shelving is easy to move, creating a theater stage with a makeup; shop; puppet theater; creative workshop or classroom and any scenario that a child or teacher needs.
Through the rabbit hole. The locker room
The locker room is the most dramatic space in any kindergarten, here parents say goodbye to their children, and it is such a gateway between the house and the kindergarten. Touching kisses take place here, parents make a lot of promises, and sometimes wipe away tears. To ease this situation, we used our favorite technique – a game hole. For Rybakov Playschool, we have developed a special design integrated into the rows of lockers – from the locker room side it is a ladder, and from the classroom side it is a slide. The child joyfully slides down and forgets about his parents :)
In addition to standard drying cabinets and lockers for each child's personal belongings, we have developed special drying panels - a perforated metal base allows warm air coming from the walls with an integrated heating system. Clothes dry quickly and are always in plain sight. Console benches are attached to the panels for comfortable changing shoes. For each child there is a hook, an elastic band for storing hats and an identification plate with a pattern.
School
In transit zones, we used the principle of "talking walls" so that the interior would talk to users without a guide. We uesd the text slogans LEARNING IS FUN! / DON'T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS! / TAKE A GOOD MOOD WITH YOU! and others.
Hall for meetings and rest
The school corridor is not just a transit zone, it is a whole world. Here, on the floor where the elementary school is located, we were able to fit: bookcrossing, a track for racing on trolleys and studying traffic regulations; a stage for theatrical performances; an auditorium; a lecture hall with the possibility of holding master classes and, even, a long worktop along the window where you can finish your homework
The walls are protected from mechanical damage and contamination by linoleum rising from the floor to a height of 90 cm. On the wall panels, you can attach creative works of students, plans for the future, or play basketball with a plush ball using a ring attached to one of the panels
Calm zone
We have equipped another corridor in the primary school area for children who prefer to rest alone for active games and races - here they can lie with a book or with their favorite gadget on a soft podium, hiding from the noise and din of a large recreation
Cafeteria
The cozy compact dining room is designed for 30 students at a time. Here we used the most budget solutions – white tiles 20X20 cm, white walls, the entire ventilation system together with the ceiling are also painted white, which allowed us to visually combine complex geometry and level out the small height of the ceilings
On the end wall we have arranged a small vegetable garden where students can follow the parsley, onion and basil planted as part of the biology program
The dining room space can be easily converted into a lecture hall with 50 seats – a projector and a screen are provided for this, as well as a small bar for a coffee break
As color accents, we used bright chairs, dishes and local yellow and terracotta paints. The walls "talk" to visitors with the help of three-dimensional font compositions – "Don't forget to wash your hands!" "Time to have a snack!" - it would seem little things, but they "make" the whole interior
Classroom
A large roomy table and a rack for teaching aids are provided for the teacher, there is no familiar blackboard in the classroom – it is replaced by a wall painted with magnetic marker paint. The main working area for writing is highlighted with a graphic frame so that students do not climb the door with too long an equation) A digital row and alphabet are designed above the blackboard area, all letters and numbers are three-dimensional and thanks to the magnetic surface, words and examples can be made from them on the blackboard.
The same graphic techniques are used in classrooms as in all other interiors: local geometric spots of color and font compositions. But here we used calmer colors that would not distract students from the main thing - getting important knowledge and useful skills.
Along the long wall there is an area for storing additional educational materials - props for art classes, technology and other personal belongings of students. A large cork board in the form of a house is intended for the exposition of creative works of students.
Here we were able to place a small recreation area and our personal methodological development - training hours with different alphabets, seasons, months and cardinal directions.
Next to the entrance we have placed a "wet zone" - a sink to wash your hands and there students can pour drinking water from the filter. To the left of the sink there is a panel with stands for individual personal cups for each student – our small contribution to saving the planet from plastic cups:)
Locker room
Here, as well as in the changing rooms of the kindergarten, each student has his own personal locker, a hanger for outerwear and a shoe box. For schoolchildren, we designed two-story lockers with combination locks. Lockers are made of metal and are much more wear-resistant and vandal-resistant than analogues made of MDF. The facades have point perforations for ventilation and openings for plates with the name and photo of the student.
In this project, we went for a non-standard solution, schoolchildren do not undress in a common dressing room on the ground floor – they have their own two separate locker rooms next to the classrooms, one for girls, the other for boys.