Óskaland Nominated for the Icelandic Design Awards 2026

Óskaland is an extension to the kindergarten of the same name in Hveragerði, designed by marimo architects. Architecture, interior design, bespoke furnishings and a variety of garden spaces come together to create a playful and welcoming environment shaped around the scale, perspective and experience of children. Óskaland has been nominated for the 2026 Icelandic Design Awards in the category Place.

The extension is an outstanding example of how warm, inviting spaces can be created by adopting children’s unconventional perspective. The project reimagines architecture for children, demonstrating how design can be playful without becoming literally childish. The child’s scale is reflected in sightlines, small openings, built-in furniture and more intimate spaces. Large windows connect the interior to an enchanting garden that invites discovery, exploration and free play.

Children’s play is not confined to designated play equipment but is woven into the architecture and landscape. Furnishings become play spaces, winding paths and vegetation invite exploration, and small huts with mirrors dissolve the boundaries between child, building and nature. The environment itself thus becomes a material for the imagination.

In the jury’s assessment, the design of Óskaland creates a warm, tactile and cohesive whole in which natural timber, a restrained use of colour, sound-absorbing surfaces and bespoke furnishings work together. The design and landscape complement one another without overwhelming the experience. The project’s strength lies in the variety of its interior spaces and outdoor areas, and in the possibilities they leave open for children to shape their own experiences.

The project has created a varied everyday environment that supports play, learning and physical activity, while also providing opportunities for calm and solitude. Children are given different ways to use and interpret the spaces themselves: they can observe, hide, explore, pause or play. In this way, they become active participants in their surroundings.

The design of Óskaland takes an integrated approach that places playfulness, perspective and children’s experiences at its heart. Architecture and interior design work exceptionally well together to create enveloping, tactile and varied spaces, both indoors and outdoors. These spaces invite children to explore their surroundings through free play, pause to observe, and actively engage with their environment at their own eye level. Óskaland also demonstrates that a thoughtful, integrated design approach can be successfully combined with modular construction.

Óskaland was designed by Anna Leoniak, Agnes Krzysztonek and Helga Björg Kjerúlf of marimo architects.

The Icelandic Design Awards 2026 ceremony will take place at Gróska on 5 November, accompanied by a related discussion. Save the date!

The Icelandic Design Awards highlight the importance and quality of design and architecture in Iceland, emphasising their impact on quality of life, value creation and sustainability for society as a whole. The awards will be presented for the thirteenth time this year, across three categories: Product // Place // Project. In addition, an award for Best Investment in Design and the Icelandic Design Awards Honorary Award will be presented.

The Iceland Design and Architecture Centre organises the awards in collaboration with the Museum of Design and Applied Art and the Iceland University of the Arts, with support from the Housing and Construction Authority, Business Iceland, Gróska, the University of Iceland Science Park and Blue Lagoon Iceland.