The "Sausewind" kindergarten is an integrative facility of the city of Dresden, where disabled and non-disabled children are supported in their development in mixed-age groups.
The concept for the kindergarten's outdoor area is based on the idea that the garden can be experienced as a play landscape with all the senses. It was the result of a participatory process. The previously flat area has been redesigned to create different play spaces where different activities can take place without disturbing each other: spaces for active and passive, for loud and quiet, for fast and slow, for running and resting.
The intensively used areas around the house are paved in a variety of ways: an asphalt roller track provides a circular route around the house for bicycles or scooters; an area with a water-bound surface serves as a seating area for al fresco dining in the summer; the entrance area and the playground are paved so that they can be walked on even in bad weather. Impermeable materials have been kept to a minimum. Most of the valuable existing trees have been incorporated into the new concept. The additional planting is largely native, with shrubs that provide flowers, fruit and autumn colours throughout the year, making the seasons tangible for the children and valuable for wildlife.
Different seed mixes have been used for the meadow areas. Wildflower meadows have been sown on the hillsides and in the peripheral areas, while play lawns have been used in the more central and heavily used areas. In principle, all areas are accessible and are mowed at different frequencies. This allows for both daydreaming and experiencing nature in the flower meadow as well as playing football on the short mowed, hard wearing grass.
The play equipment has been used sparingly and mainly for activities that nature cannot provide in this form, such as swings and slides. They are mainly made from naturally grown, sometimes crooked robinia wood and each one is unique. In addition, logs, sandstone, boulders and other natural elements provide plenty of opportunities for play and discovery.