Windchimes Children’s Centre/

Situated in the seaside resort of Herne Bay is a new Children’s Centre designed by HMY for Kent County Council. Won through competitive interview the project is for a new centre in East Kent for children with a range of disabilities, providing respite care for up to six children overnight and a day centre offering a range of activities.

The key requirement of the brief was that the children should feel that they are in a domestic home environment - not an institution.

The pitched roofs and soft cladding mixed with features picked out in bright colours helps to offer a representation of home. Rooms, corridors and the stairs also follow domestic scale and warmth with plenty of apertures on the upper floor to take advantage of the sea views.