"Disappearing" architecture has become quite a trend in recent years, with many new buildings deploying mirror, glass, and holograms. There are vanishing universities, "camouflaged" skyscrapers, and yes, a smattering of adult treehouses that blend into their landscapes. The West Limerick Children's Centre in Ireland, however, may well be the world's first "disappearing" childcare center. The structure, designed by Irish firm SATA, has a roof that works as a "cloaking device" and camouflages the building in the right light. It reflects the sky and nearby trees beautifully, but one can easily imagine absent-minded parents cruising right past it on the way to pick up their kids.
The interiors are not as fun-looking as a lot of the other recent architecture projects for kids, but since the minimalist white-hued interior contains many therapy rooms for children with intellectual and physical disabilities (and the brief called for a restricted color palette), it gets a pass on that. Also the combination of the mirror-clad second floor with a glassy modernist first-level is just plain lovely—if not as exciting as, say, a school that looks covered in snakeskin or resembles a cat or is held up by a giant giraffe.
· SATA Architecture [Official site]
· SATA's medical centre has mirrored "cloaking" roof that reflects the sky [Dezeen]
· Here Now, 30 Stunning Cases of Architecture Made For Kids [Curbed National]
· All Parenting Handbook posts [Curbed National]