.. Hollybush Integrated Children's Centre ..
.. Located within the grounds of Hollybush Primary School - Cwmbran ..
.. Opened September 2006 by Jane Davidson (Minister for Lifelong Learning Skills) ..
Torfaen County Borough Council were awarded £1.5 million in funding from the Welsh Assembly Government and the New Opportunities Fund to develop an Integrated Children’s Centre. The key elements of the Centre are Early Years Education, Childcare, Training, Open Access Play and services such as Sure Start for families with children aged 0-4 years.
The building was designed in-house within Torfaen County Borough Council together with a Finnish Company, based in the Lapland region of Finland. The timber logs used in the construction were 150 years old and were grown and harvested from a sustainable forest, within the Rovaniemi region of the Artic Circle.
Within the grounds of the `Centre` are areas of both `hard and soft` landscaping, their aim, to encourage users to the importance of utilising their surroundings as a learning resource.
.. The building design utilises the `natural light` available which enhances the timber wall structure ..
The building provides :
Two nursery rooms with integrated kitchen facilities, quiet areas, wet areas and storage areas.
Crèche facilities with integrated kitchen facilities, quiet areas, wet areas and large amount of storage areas.
A training room for parents and staff.
An office, reception rooms, interview rooms and medical facilities.
"An unusual and `eye pleasing` design feature I noticed, was instead of using plastic down pipes, heavy chains are used, whereby rain water collected in the roof's guttering, runs down the chain links to the drains. "
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