Kindergarten Facility and Environment Design Based on the Child Development Theory - Focused on Foreign Cases

Children absorb the feeling from the environment they are surrounded. Designing for children is done by adults, however it is important to know what kind of environment makes them feel safe, friendly and physically active. Planning an environment for children is fundamental in teaching, enables to improve the learning process and to develop their minds and bodies. The purpose of this study is to propose an architectural design guide, based on the child development theory through reviewing 66 case studies of other countries known for advanced children education. The study was conducted in three steps. First to understand the child development theory and to summarize contents of nursery spaces focused on how physical environments inspires child development. Secondly, we studied the design concepts, physical conditions, spatial characteristics and ideas to create child friendly learning spaces from 66 cases. Finally, suggest an architectural planning guideline for children spaces based on the development theory and the validity and effectiveness of the design strategies discussed through the cases.