Steni Panels Moon Car Test

When the municipality of Køge in Denmark built the Børnehuset Valhalla kindergarten and nursery, they employed a new and untraditional testing method for selecting materials for the façade – The Moon Car Test. The idea was to ensure they had a durable and maintenance-free façade, thus ensuring a long service life and low maintenance costs.

Buildings where active kids gather every day must be able to withstand all the abuse from the children’s fun and games.

We had the idea because we had previously experienced Eternit fibre cement panels cracking under the strain of the children’s daily play, where – among other things – they had driven into the walls with their “Moon Car” go-karts that most kindergartens have.​

Anette Kaae Bødker, Project Manger

The Test

Steni set up a test wall and encouraged children to drive straight into the building’s façade panels with “Moon Car” go-karts. The test was conducted under the close supervision of Anette Kaae Bødker and her colleagues.

We urged the children, teachers, and other adults to drive into the wall to see what it could tolerate. Of course, the children thought it was great fun, as they are normally not allowed to ‘crash’ into the walls. The wall was also exposed to a lot of other strains like ball games, mud-throwing, etc.,” says Anette Kaae Bødker.

The Steni panels passed the test, and the Building Department was pleased with the results. So, naturally, they chose Steni façade panels.

And the kindergarten’s black and green curved façade is still holding up well, despite being the “workplace” of more than 140 children and adults every day.