grabowski.spork architektur: Winner of World Design Awards 2025. Three dark pyramids form an identity-forming silhouette, visible from afar in Frauenstein, an outskirt of Wiesbaden, the capital of German state Hesse. They are part of the new St. Georg Kindergarten, a day care centre for up to 80 children in four groups, which was completed in 2025. Here, the children can expect a wide range of experiences in terms of space, play, and nature.

The two-storey building with a dark grey wooden façade is divided into three equally wide structures, each with a truncated pyramid roof fitted with photovoltaics. The concept is characterized by the topography of the site with its significant height difference: the ground floor is pushed into the slope and carefully integrates the building into its surroundings.

Light-coloured ribbon windows divide the dark façade towards the access road in the east. The central entrance with canopy and car and bicycle parking spaces is kept in the same light colour as the window frames and is clearly legible. The adjoining foyer forms the arrival area; the crèche group, a multipurpose room for events and exercise, the management office and the kitchen are accessed from here. An open staircase leads to the upper floor with three group rooms under the high pyramid roofs. A central skylight in each group room brings daylight deep into the building. Spacious, light-filled rooms and suspended play levels become adventure spaces with various opportunities for movement and retreat. Simple, colour-coordinated built-in furniture structures the interior and creates a sense of calm.

The three group rooms open up to the play garden with generous glazing and have direct access to the outside. A continuous canopy provides shade and offers play areas protected from the weather. The garden combines classic play equipment with tree trunks and boulders that invite children to explore and play creatively. From the garden, the house appears to be single storey; the striking pyramid roofs stand out as a distinctive design element.

Sustainability and technology
The daycare centre meets the KFW Efficiency House 40 standard. Heat pumps in combination with underfloor heating provide the heat supply. The photovoltaic system on the roofs produces electricity for the centre’s own needs, with any surplus being fed into the grid. Rainwater is collected in cisterns and used to irrigate the green areas. The result is a child-friendly building that combines functionality, sustainability and architectural quality to create a future-proof place for education and care.

Project Details:-
Firm
grabowski.spork architektur

Architect
Christoph Grabowski, Jan Spork

Project Name
Kindergarten St. Georg

Project Category
Educational Design (Built)

Team
Felix Jung, Johannes Busch (Entwurf), Cathrin Boldischar, Matteo Lauriola, Benjamin Leppelt, Michelle Rib

Project Location
Wiesbaden

Country
Germany

Photography ©Credit
©Jean-Luc Valentin, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

grabowski.spork architektur

MISSION: GOOD ARCHITECTURE!

Good for society – Good for the environment – Good for your project Christoph Grabowski and Jan Spork founded their office grabowski.spork architektur in 2005 in Wiesbaden. Their work focused on projects in the areas of office, residential and education, as well as special buildings. They also successfully participated in competitions. The Idea of sustainable efficiency underlies all of the architects’ projects. The architects also deal intensively with redensification and refurbishment of existing structures. Following the idea of sustainable reuse, they converted a former supermarket into their new multispace loft office in 2019.