The Cirque du Vent Daycare

TYPE Co-design workshops et project management

STATUS Completed

DATE January 2015 > March 2017

LOCATION Saint-Denis

FUNDERS Association Cirque du Vent

In order to understand this space, we focused on the concept of ‘the user as the expert’. We facilitated co-design workshops with parents and daycare professionals in order to imagine and design this 250m2 space in a collaborative way. The lessons learned from these exercises allowed us to develop a large-scale project including an 8-week construction site to demolish certain spaces, change materials, better insulate the space, improve the functionality, and most importantly increase space and freedom of movement. Today, children are actively taking advantage of this new place.

The association formed by the parents of the Cirque du Vent, showcases the participatory nature of the space. It is not just a daycare but a place for human-to-human interaction and a place to promote the shared experience of raising children. This project is about the neighbourhood at large and pushes the space past the 4 walls that surround it. The completed space is a reflection of these shared values.

The Cirque du Vent Daycare was established 8 years ago in a former bookshop in the Porte de Paris district of Saint-Denis. Toddlers and parents alike continue to enjoy the space today.