Busy Bees Early Childhood Center
The project involves the transformation of a 750-square-meter portion of the Monterosa 91 building in Milan, the historic headquarters of Il Sole 24 Ore, which has been converted into a multifunctional tertiary hub and recently renovated and expanded by RPWB.
Located on the ground floor and facing the complex’s main square, the new early childhood center had to address a series of spatial constraints: an interior height of nearly five meters, a single north-facing façade, and a building depth of 26 meters. These conditions led to a design intervention focused on spatial layering and the management of natural light.
The classrooms are arranged in a comb-like layout, positioned orthogonally to the glazed façade to maximize natural illumination. The partitions between classrooms are formed by storage units and glass walls, whose modularity reflects the rhythm of the existing façade, reinforcing the dialogue between interior and exterior.
The innermost area, lacking direct natural light and ventilation, houses an internal plaza, conceived as a multifunctional space for collective activities, along with offices, changing rooms, and service areas.
A key architectural feature is the long horizontal blade that separates the classrooms from the internal plaza. This element not only organizes the space into two distinct heights—one at full height near the glazed façade and a more intimate, lower zone beneath the blade—but also contributes to creating a protected, child-friendly environment, resizing the scale of the spaces and enhancing the sense of enclosure within the classrooms.
This intervention goes beyond a purely functional response, aiming to restore a spatial quality that meets the needs of an early childhood center, balancing openness and protection, light and depth.
