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Design for expansion.
A conversation with Vishav Roma, CEO of Kinderzimmer UK nursery group.
As part of its childcare plan, Labour has pledged to create 100,000 additional childcare places and more than 3,000 new nurseries. Pair this with 15 free hours of childcare per week, and things seem to be heading in the right direction.
According to the Department for Education, 40,000 additional staff are needed to fulfil this pledge by next September, with experts warning that funding without an effective recruitment drive will be a band-aid solution.
Nurseries across the UK find themselves confronting a frustrating paradox – they lack the staff to capitalise on the growing market demand, driven in part by financial support from the government.
In the face of these challenges, a strategy focused on growth could seem counterintuitive, but since 2016 Kennedy Woods Architecture, has worked with some of the best nursery groups in the industry, helping them to launch new sites fast and scale smoothly.
We designed 25 schools for N Family Club and, more recently, worked with German nursery group, Kinderzimmer, as it started to scale across the UK. Kinderzimmer UK chief executive Vishav Roma explains the challenge:
“Several issues have been brewing in the sector over the past few years, with talent being a major concern. The talent shortage can be attributed to two main factors. First, the Covid-19 pandemic put such a strain on nurseries, especially smaller or independent ones, that it became challenging to offer competitive pay and benefits, turning what was already more of a vocation than a career into an even less appealing option. As a result, some professionals re-evaluated their choices and left the sector.
“Second, the number of people pursuing early childhood education degrees has declined, with more professionals leaving the field and fewer new entrants.”
Roma realised he needed to offer more to attract great talent. With a bold vision of opening 50 schools in five years, Kinderzimmer offers its employees the chance to develop their careers as the company grows.
Roma says: “What makes us unique and one of the most exciting businesses in the sector is our rapid growth. It’s led to significant advances in people development, ongoing professional development, and the creation of early years jobs that are rare in this industry.”
With the principles of its employee culture clear, the Kinderzimmer team focused with equal rigour on the interior design and functionality of its spaces.
The company contacted Kennedy Woods Architecture to explore what parts of Kinderzimmer’s original brand DNA would resonate with the UK market, what should be changed or adapted, and how the process could be designed to allow it to swiftly scale across London.
“I don’t think the role of design can be overstated in what we’ve accomplished”, Roma explains. “It’s absolutely critical to our growth, to everything we do, to our operations, and to our strategy. Our approach was to create nurseries that fit with everything we do. The meticulous attention we pay to every detail, whether in new or old buildings, reflects our dedication to creating a joyful experience and one that is bespoke to our curriculum.”
Photography by James Retief
Initial workshops involved the entire senior team at the Kennedy Woods studio. Physical models of existing schools were poured over, looking for potential improvements that could come with a fresh slate. Soon, brand guidelines were established, and the growth plan was set in motion.
With the design direction and strategy set, Kinderzimmer launched its first seven sites, with another three in the pipeline for the end of this year. Kinderzimmer’s preference for ‘landmark’ buildings has meant that while set interior design standards provide brand and operational continuity and a consistent user experience, the Kennedy Woods team had the added challenge of carefully adapting these in a way that also celebrates what’s special about each building.
Working closely as a client-architect team has meant lessons learned from each new site have been carried forward into the next. Data on employee wellbeing, parent satisfaction, and child happiness have driven a continual process of iterative improvement and refinement. Roma states: “Design is constant; you continuously evolve, iterate, and make nuanced changes. When you reach a certain point, it’s about those incremental percentage wins at each site.
“By the end of the year, you realise that this year’s improvements are much better than last year’s. The data from operations and feedback from members help us improve outcomes. This iterative, collaborative process of capturing data and applying it to our designs never really ends. It continues to evolve, hopefully creating better spaces over time.”
With seven schools opened within a year, Roma and the Kinderzimmer team have much to celebrate. However, they remain mindful of their broader goal ahead and continue to reflect on improving their approach.
“Our most significant lessons are expected to emerge over the next two years,” Roma explains. “The initial phase of our collaboration has been centred on rapid growth and establishment. By the end of this period, we will have created approximately 1,000 new childcare places.
“As our occupancy increases, we’ll start learning more lessons.” Working with Kinderzimmer has been a fast-paced and exciting experience. With the sector seeing so much activity, we’ve now set up a service specially tailored to help education brands grow. It’s called Journey to Thirty, and focuses on three key areas:
Getting buy-in from potential partners and investors with an inspiring and clearly communicated multi-site strategy document
Developing designs for every user touchpoint to create a distinctive, trustworthy nursery brand. This can include graphic identity, wayfinding and product development
Helping clients move fast on potential sites, ensuring decisions are locked in early so every new nursery feels part of the family.
Up next
Kinderzimmer in detail
See the complete Kinderzimmer case study and learn more about the design process.
Journey to Thirty
Understand how we help education brands scale up sustainably to become a multi-site group.
In The Making
Preview the educational workshops we run, to engage children of all ages with design.
Tom Woods, director at architecture practice Kennedy Woods, is on a mission to change the way we design schools. He champions the involvement of children and their communities in the creative process, and through the studio’s programme In The Making, he’s opening up careers in design to more young people.
