Nursery World - Feeling at home

What makes a good early years space? Judith Napier looks at how nurseries go about creating the right environment for their children A nursery which signs up a lighting engineer who has designed lightshows for the likes of Bowie and Madonna can expect dramatic results.

A nursery which signs up a lighting engineer who has designed lightshows for the likes of Bowie and Madonna can expect dramatic results.

Happy Times' founder Adam Shaw recalls the downside of that approach in his first nursery at Richmond. 'The problem was it was showbiz lighting. When a bulb blew, it cost 130 to replace and we had to get in a theatrical technician, not just one of our maintenance men. Of course, it would have been all right if we'd been on tour...'

However, eight years on, and about to open Happy Times' fourth, and biggest, nursery, in Fulham, he remains committed to a belief that getting the lighting and colour right is key to any environment. The design for this 170-place centre includes input from a child psychologist specialising in colour therapy, and a state-of-the-art lighting system.

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