Pupils from The Piggott School in Reading, England, have won the Design Museum's Design Ventura competition with a card game that encourages children to learn about colours in their surroundings.

The Colour Countdown game came out on top in the competition, which invites secondary school students aged 13 to 16 to develop a product that can be sold in the Design Museum's gift shop.

This year's brief, set by south London textile designer Kangan Arora, called for responses to the theme of colour and community, challenging students to consider "the importance of community practices, supporting and learning from one another".

The game devised by The Piggott School pupils is based on classic card games I Spy and Uno. It aims to encourage children to put down their devices and engage with the world around them to promote positive mental health.

The playing cards feature coloured cellophane windows that can be overlapped to create a blend of colours, which players then have to search out in their environment.

"You can play anywhere at all," explained the students in their pitch to a judging panel that included Arora and Dezeen's editorial director Max Fraser. "You draw cards of different colours – red, blue, orange, green etc. – and you have to look around and find objects in that colour."

The cellophane is made from wood pulp and the cards use FSC-certified paper to lower the product's environmental footprint.

Also included in this year's judging panel were the Design Museum's senior buying manager Preena Patel and Christoph Woermann, chief marketing officer for Deutsche Bank's Corporate Bank division.

"The winning design was chosen as it responded clearly to the brief in a way which was creative, fun and appealing to a range of audiences," said the judges. "We didn't want to put the product down and we knew that customers in the Design Museum would feel the same."

Launched in 2010 by the Design Museum in partnership with Deutsche Bank, the Design Ventura contest aims to reinforce the importance of early design education and fill gaps in the current design and technology curriculum.

The contest offers pupils at UK state secondary schools the chance to respond to a real-world brief, supporting the development of skills and experiences that help them understand how to bring ideas to life.

This year's winning project by The Piggott School will now be developed with a professional agency before being manufactured and sold in the Design Museum shop, with money raised from the sales going to a charity of the pupil's choosing.

Previous winners include a portable knife designed to prevent "avocado hand" – an increasingly common injury where people cut themselves while trying to de-stone an avocado.

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Architecture practice Parallel Studio has punctured the white walls of this children's library in Zanzibar with small holes, providing natural ventilation and casting shadows across books inside.

Named Mariam's Library, the building occupies an empty plot in the village of Mwanyanya and is designed as an "inviting and inclusive environment conducive to learning, creativity, and community involvement", Parallel Studio said.

It was developed in collaboration with the local Beit Ras School after the studio's founder Mai Al Busairi visited the area and saw the community's need for more books and reading facilities.

"Mai Al Busairi collaborated with the local community and the school principal to understand their requirements, identifying the absence of books and adequate facilities as the primary concerns," Parallel Studio told Dezeen.

"This led to the conception of Mariam's Library, aimed at enhancing educational prospects for students in Zanzibar."

Mariam's Library is formed of clay-brick walls and a corrugated-plastic roof, chosen to meet a tight budget and enable it to be built in only 34 days.

Clay bricks were also chosen for their high thermal mass, which helps keep the building cool during the hot summer months. They are lined and painted white both externally and internally.

The addition of holes in these walls supports the low running costs of the library, with the perforations helping to naturally ventilate the space and reducing the need for mechanical ventilation.

Internally, the library comprises a single room divided into two zones – one for solitary learning and the other for communal activities.

Floor-to-ceiling shelving along one wall is filled with donated books and punctuated by one of two large circular windows that doubles as a sculptural reading nook for the children.

A stepped concrete seating area, which also forms a stage for performances, has been cast with a pattern of circles referencing the building's perforated facade.

The building is topped by a flat roof constructed from a timber frame and covered in inexpensive corrugated-plastic sheets.

Mariam's Library is the latest in Parallel Studio's series of philanthropic projects named Parallel Gives Program.

"We believe in the power of architecture, art, and design to foster positive change and cultivate a responsive approach to global challenges," Parallel Studio told Dezeen.

"Through the Parallel Gives Program, we devote resources and effort to serving the global community altruistically, reflecting our dedication to extending support and expertise beyond our immediate surroundings."

Using perforated walls is a common way to facilitate natural ventilation in buildings, particularly in warmer climates.

Other buildings that make use of perforated walls include the Mind Manifestation's apartment in India and the Premier Office in Vietnam by Tropical Space.

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Scottish practices Loader Monteith and Studio SJM have completed The Harmeny Learning Hub outside Edinburgh, which is clad in larch to blend in with its woodland surroundings.

The teaching space is located on the 35-acre estate of the charity Harmeny Education Trust, which provides specialist education for children who have experienced severe trauma.

Loader Monteith and Studio SJM won a competition to design it with their proposal to "embrace the students and the landscape" with a low-slung, L-shaped building that hugs the site's trees.

"Sited between two Category-A listed buildings and within a dense, mature woodland, the learning centre is rooted firmly in the principle of wellbeing," explained the studios.

"At the very core of the project is a desire to provide a safe place in which the children can explore, discover and reflect on their experiences in order to heal and develop skills that will support them into and throughout their adult life."

The Harmeny Learning Hub comprises two buildings set atop a paved patio. To the north, the classrooms, meditation spaces and two art workshops are housed in the main timber-framed, larch-clad structure that will silver over time to "camouflage" with the trees.

Perpendicular to this is a slightly smaller brick-clad volume, containing further teaching spaces and workshops along with offices and a reception area.

These two blocks are linked by paved walkways that wrap around and between them, dotted with areas of planting.

"This crucial access to nature – readily available from all rooms – offers students a diverse set of spaces to engage with their education and importantly, places of respite should activities become overwhelming," explained the studios.

"High-level windows and sections of overhead glazing offer a constant, relaxing visual connection to the outdoors."

The interiors of The Harmeny Learning Hub, designed by Studio SJM, prioritise both views of and access to the surrounding natural landscape.

In the classrooms, large skylights and glazed doors open onto the external patio, while the fittings and finishes have been kept deliberately simple with a neutral palette of pastel colours.

"Thresholds were carefully considered to offer a sense of welcome and create an informal, safe atmosphere from first entry," said the studios.

"The vocational spaces have been designed to mimic workshop or creative environments to familiarise the students with potential types of future workplaces," they added.

Loader Monteith is an architecture practice based in Scotland founded in 2016 by Matt Loader and Iain Monteith, and Studio SJM was established by Sarah Jane Storrie and Marianne Partyka in 2020.

Previous projects by Loader Monteith include an office for a bike tour operator in Inverness and an "invisible" restoration of Peter Womersley's High Sunderland house.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

Project credits:

Architects: Loader Monteith and Studio SJM
Client: Harmeny Education Trust
Main contractor: Thomas Johnstone
Project management: Faithful & Gould
Landscape architect: Wardell Armstrong
Structural engineer: Harley Haddow
M&E consultant: Harley Haddow
CDM coordinator: Principal CDM

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A wooden structure will be left exposed throughout this children's daycare centre at the Technical University of Munich, on which Berlin-based studio Kéré Architecture has started construction in Germany.

Named Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM, the centre will sit beside the university's cafeteria and be open to children with parents or carers who work on campus.

The 700-square-metre centre's focal points will be exposed wooden surfaces, as well as rooms linked by slides and a rooftop play area that Kéré Architecture has named Himmelswiese, or Field of the Heavens.

"When we build for the little ones, we want them to be able to run around outside and feel the elements," said the studio's founder Diébédo Francis Kéré.

Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM is set to open at Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the end of 2025 with space for 60 children.

Once complete, it will be wrapped by a facade of wooden slats, which Kéré Architecture designed to reflect "the playful energy" of its users.

There will be five levels, including ground-floor administration areas and the children's play areas on the middle three levels, organised by age group.

The top floor will be a rooftop play area, which will be partly covered and offer views out over Munich.

Kéré Architecture designed the building with a structure made predominantly from timber in an effort to reduce its embodied carbon – the emissions caused by the extraction and processing of materials as well as the construction process. It is being developed in collaboration with Austrian studio Hermann Kaufmann + Partner.

"We wanted to take the sustainability of the building to the extreme and build it entirely out of wood," said Kéré.

Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM will be complete with a green roof, which is hoped to evolve into a "giant meadow" spaning the neighbouring buildings as part of the project.

"I would also like to colonise the neighboring roofs, starting by connecting our building with the roof of the cafeteria and turning that into a giant meadow," said Kéré.

Kéré founded his eponymous studio in Berlin in 2005. In 2022, he was named the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and in 2023 he was listed among Time's 100 most influential climate leaders.

Other recent projects by his studio include a community centre in Uganda and a Kenyan education campus informed by termite mounds.

The renders are courtesy of Kéré Architecture.

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Belgian studio WE-S Architecten has created a nursery in the town of Aartselaar that takes the form of a nine-sided pavilion, intended to blend in with the surrounding park.

The compact building in Belgium provides four classrooms, a dining area and staff spaces, which are organised radially around a skylit hall to allow them to "visually flow into each other".

Sheltered by the overhanging roof, the classrooms look inwards onto the central hall through full-height glazing and outwards to the park through large windows on the exterior.

"The nursery school is tailored to the children in terms of both scale and layout: no strictly separated classrooms, but spaces that visually flow into each other," said WE-S Architecten partner Edward Weysen.

"The school building is located in a residential, suburban area, and therefore tries to create an introverted and secure atmosphere in order to limit the nuisance to the adjacent homes," he told Dezeen.

"That is why the classrooms were oriented around a communal hall that is illuminated from above."

The classrooms themselves have been organised back-to-back, allowing them to be combined into larger spaces when necessary as well as being easily observed from the staff spaces.

Between the classrooms are shared facilities such as toilets, storage, a kitchen and a dining area, provided with more privacy by wood plank cladding on the building's exterior.

At the front of the building, two segments have been removed from the nine-sided form to create an external, covered entrance and play area, with a tree that protrudes through a roof cut-out.

The shallow-pitched roof that tops the nursery features a large overhang to provide sheltered areas around its perimeter, with several sides featuring concrete benches.

The wooden beams on the underside of the roof have been left exposed, and in each corner, the structure is supported by large, curving wooden columns.

Inside, the structure's radial beams have also been left visible in the central hall, with the classrooms finished with timber panelling and floors and metal window frames in pale green to further blend in with the park.

"The roof extends 1.75 metres so that the bench remains sheltered and covered. In addition, this accentuates the roof shield as a load-bearing tent structure," Weysen told Dezeen.

"The building therefore seems to blend effortlessly into the wooded environment and can be read as a modest garden pavilion rather than an institutional building," he concluded.

Ghent-based WE-S Architecten is led by Edward Weysen and Thomas Dierickx. Its previous projects include a long extension to a bungalow in Pittem clad in redbrick.

Other nurseries on Dezeen include Kindergarten of Museum Forest in China by Atelier Apeiron and Větrník Kindergarten in the Czech Republic by Architektura.

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American architecture studio NBBJ has created a series of interactive media displays in a California children's hospital to ease young patients' anxiety.

Designed by the NBBJ's New York experience design studio ESI Design, the installations consist of screens that display a native California landscape where children can create animal characters to release into the wild.

It is located at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) outside of Los Angeles. The team wanted to install a feature to quell the nerves of young patients entering the hospital for surgeries and other appointments.

The studio created an interactive digital forest display called Loma Land that spans five screens built into a lobby wall, and is accompanied by an audio soundtrack.

"Loma Land will greet young patients with an idyllic forest of animated creatures, rustling plants and the gentle sounds of flowing water," said the team.

Along the digital experience, which spans 415 square feet (38 square metres), children select an animal companion, customise its fur, add accessories, and then release it into the "wild".

Children select and customize their animals just outside security gates, within three oval-shaped touchscreens. There, they pick animals native to the surrounding California landscape including a fox, bear, deer and raccoon.

Moving along the screens, they can select from a variety of brightly-coloured fur and add accessories, including an acorn hat, leaf mask and grass top hat.

Once the animal is made, children can interact with it one-on-one via a fourth screen, or pass through the security gates, where the creature is released into a larger landscape that's displayed on a 60-foot-wide (18-metre) screen.

As children and parents walk past the landscape and further into the hospital, the animal can be seen interacting with creatures created by other children and roaming around a forested environment.

"When it came time to design Loma Land, the greatest challenge became the fact there is truly nothing quite like it," said the team.

"So, the team looked for inspiration from libraries, children's museums and games. These cultural media experiences motivated the team to incorporate elements such as character play, active and passive disruption, and collaborative composition."

The team surveyed a group of children and their families to select the digital setting for the installation, with the majority preferring a natural environment.

ESI Design incorporated native trees and shrubs into the environment to provide further familiarity and comfort.

The team believes the Loma Land concept could be incorporated into other hospitals and expanded across LLUCH to meet future needs.

"While this innovation is truly remarkable, what makes it especially relevant to today's healthcare system is the fact it can be easily replicated by any hospital that has the vision to transform the patient experience from one of dread into one of delight," said the team.

They also noted additional displays could include different environments and plush toys of the animals could be incorporated into gift shops for an "offline" experience as an extension of the concept.

The team also prioritized the use of projectors when possible, instead of LED screens, in the interest of making the displays easier to clean as the display wall simply needs to be sanitized.

NBBJ recently collaborated with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on a LA Playground and created a pediatric clinic in Seattle with "no blank walls".

The photography is by Sean Airhart

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Students from Soho Parish Primary School have designed a series of luminescent installations to light the streets of Soho, London.

This year saw 130 pupils compete for the Soho Kids Xmas Lights project.

Fourteen winners had their designs realised as LED lighting installations and assisted in curating the Soho exhibition, which displayed 35 lighting designs from previous years alongside their own.

The creative, multi-coloured designs bring a playfulness to the busy Soho streets and drew on festive traditions for inspiration.

They also referenced themes of "lighting, identity of place and fashion".

This year's winning designs included a patterned Christmas bauble by six-year-old Emberly and a reindeer in a Christmas hat by Vesper.

Both students won additional awards from co-organisers Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Lighting Industry Association (LIA) for "outstanding design works".

The two children described the experience of having their work exhibited as "amazing and really nice".

This year marked the third edition of the annual Soho Kids Xmas Lights project.

The initiative was set up in 2021 by Antonio Capelao and is organised by his community interest company Architecture for kids, in partnership with RIBA and LIA.

As part of the project, a series of workshops were delivered by Capelao alongside the assistant head of Soho Parish Primary School Hannah Peaty and RIBA interim learning manager Joshua Brooks.

These saw the students conduct research into the area's local buildings, culture and traditions, and also included a visit to the Andy Warhol: The Textiles exhibition at London's Fashion and Textile Museum.

The light installations will be exhibited in Soho till 7th January 2024.

Similarly festive projects in London include a multi-coloured, neon Christmas tree installation in King's Cross and a Christmas tree made from stacked travel cases in Mayfair.

The photography is by Tunde Valiszka. 

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PLY+ and MPR Arquitectos have transformed a building at a former Catholic college into the School at Marygrove Elementary, filling it with colours and shapes that help spark "experimentation and exploration" among children.

Located in northwest Detroit, the building is part of the School at Marygrove, a new educational institution that will eventually serve students in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12). The curriculum has a special focus on engineering and social justice.

The school occupies the site of a former religious college, Marygrove College, that closed in 2019. The campus – which is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places – is now owned and managed by a nonprofit organization, the Marygrove Conservancy.

Several buildings on the 53-acre (21-hectare) campus are being converted into facilities for the School at Marygrove.

This project involved transforming a brick-faced, concrete building that first opened in 1941 into a public elementary school for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The design was led by PLY+, a studio based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and MPR Arquitectos, which is based in Ann Arbor and Murcia, Spain.

Both firms are led by professors at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.

The architects aimed to preserve original features in the 65,000-square-foot (6,039-square-metre) building while integrating a host of new elements.

The goal was to "establish a foundational, collaborative educational environment" while preserving the historic components.

The building's exterior was kept intact, the only change being the addition of an accessible entrance.

Within the building, the team modified rooms and added new finishes and plywood millwork. The decor was carefully selected, and special details – such as visually dynamic ceiling baffles – were incorporated.

The building's original layout was mostly retained, as the double-loaded corridor layout was deemed historically significant and kept in place.

The corridor received new storage nooks with spots for bags, coats and shoes. In the classrooms, the team inserted counters, sinks, benches, chalkboards and storage space.

"Custom millwork elements provide design flexibility without impinging on historic elements," the team said.

The project also called for the creation of maker spaces, reading rooms, a media centre and a restorative justice centre. An existing gymnasium was renovated.

Throughout the facility, the team used a mix of soft and bold colours, ranging from bright peach to pale yellow-green.

The palette was informed by historic hues and the desire to introduce colours that signal "the new use of the building and the new model of pedagogy being fostered", the team said.

"Colour and form play an important role in establishing unique identities for individual classrooms and signal the vibrancy and joy of collaborative learning," the team added.

Overall, the design is meant to speak to its young users.

"The design engages children's sense of curiosity and encourages experimentation and exploration," the team said.

The project was a collaboration between Detroit Public Schools Community District, which operates the school, and the University of Michigan's School of Education.

Other school projects include an athletic centre at an Oregon school that features trellises laced with climbing vines and a boarding school in southern California that has buildings with jagged rooflines.

The photography is by Jason Keen.

Project credits:

Architect: PLY+ and MPR Arquitectos
Ply+ team: Craig Borum, Jen Maigret, Andrew Wolking, Yusi Zha, Olaia Chivite Amigo, Yibo Jiao, Masataka Yoshikawa
MPR Arquitectos team: Ana Morcillo-Pallares, Jon Rule
Architect of record: Integrated Design Solutions
Client: Marygrove Conservancy
Collaborators: Detroit Public Schools, University of Michigan School of Education

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Sportswear brand Nike has launched the Nike Swoosh 1 trainer, a colourful Flyknit shoe for young children that is made from 80 per cent recycled materials and designed to feel like "cruising around barefoot".

The shoe, which is being released globally, was constructed to "help support our earliest walkers", Nike said.

"Promoting natural gait development is crucial for early walkers," the brand added.

"Research shows that our lifelong gait pattern begins to solidify as early as five to six months after we learn to walk. Our feet need to bend, flex, grip and splay in order to develop how they're naturally intended to."

Nike Swoosh 1 features the brand's seamless Flyknit upper, which aims to support small feet, with an outsole made from thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) that was constructed to be grippy and provide traction and durability when walking.

It was made from 80 per cent recycled materials, according to the brand, and has a colourful design with a deep blue outsole and an upper covered in dappled blue, yellow and red hues.

Bright red was also used as an accent colour, while the brand's signature swoosh logo was rendered in an oversized childlike style in a blue hue that matches the sole.

The shoe, which also comes in a black-and-white version, is closed using practical Velcro tabs.

The seamless knitted upper means the Nike Swoosh 1 is very flexible, which the brand says makes it suitable for young children.

"The shoe can bend in all directions, helping to provide kids the mobility they need to mimic the feeling of cruising around barefoot," Nike said.

"Fun fact: Babies have more nerve endings concentrated in their feet than in any other part of their body."

The Nike Swoosh 1 is the first-ever Nike Kids shoe to receive the American Podiatric Medical Association's Seal of Acceptance, which is granted to products that encourage good foot health.

The trainer, which was designed for children aged nine to 36 months, also has a wide toe box to let toes naturally splay and flex.

Other unusual Nike designs include the glueless ISPA Link trainers, which can be easily disassembled, and the hands-free GO FlyEase sneakers, which were designed for the user to just step into.

The photography is courtesy of Nike.

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English practice Delve Architects has used joyful colours and natural, tactile materials to outfit a newly established kindergarten by the River Thames in east London that can be accessed via boat.

The Nest daycare centre is part of a wider housing development in the Royal Wharf area, occupying a commercial unit at the base of a 19-storey housing block.

As a result, the primary challenge was to bring the towering newbuild space down to child scale and make it feel more homely while forging a greater connection to the riverfront.

"We wanted to create a calm, nurturing but playful space that reflected the values of the nursery," Delve Architects co-founder Alex Raher told Dezeen.

"Their ethos is for children to have a positive learning experience through a healthy relationship with the environment around them and a connection to the outdoors."

To boost the internal floor are, the studio installed a new mezzanine with a bespoke, powder-coated metal staircase that rises through a double-height space defined by a series of arched timber fins.

These maple-veneered arches – each around 4.5 metres tall – were conceived by Delve Architects to subdivide the space, creating zones without physical barriers.

"We wanted to connect the spaces visually and physically between the mezzanine and lower level, and to soften the hardened edges of the space," said Raher.

The arches are formed from a series of fins that merge into benches and individual seating as they approach the ground.

"The grand scale of the arches for a small child could feel overwhelming, so we brought this down into child-height seating, benches and joinery to play with the scale and make it more familiar to them," said Raher.

"The material flows seamlessly between the two levels and creates a natural material palette that the children could recognise and read through different heights and spaces."

The arches also span over the main staircase, where Raher says they suggest a canopy of trees.

"We wanted it to be a centrepiece that was exciting, functional and exploratory, almost like a meandering joinery up to a treehouse-style level on the mezzanine, through a network of arches and branches on the way," the architect explained.

"One of the first concepts we explored was the treehouse idea, developing ideas around the nursery name The Nest and how we could bring a playful part of nature into the design."

Given its inner-city location, the nursery is fortunate to have a large garden overlooking the riverfront, which is connected to the nursery via a double set of six bi-folding doors.

The external fencing was designed by Delve Architects "to merge with the rhythm of the existing tower's balconies" and powder-coated in a matching colour.

"We wanted to celebrate the connection to the outside space, the riverfront location and the child-height views from the mezzanine to the water, as it was unique to the space and to the nursery setting," said Raher.

"Children can arrive and parents can commute using the river boat directly outside the nursery. The new pier designed by Nex Architecture is a beautiful backdrop to the site."

To cope with the demands of a nursery setting, materials and finishes are resilient as well as being natural and tactile. Among them is recycled and recyclable Marmoleum flooring, maple-veneered joinery and low VOC paint.

A colour palette of soft muted shades helps to create a homely atmosphere inside The Nest.

"This palette works better than bolder primary colours, as these create too much visual noise for younger children," Raher said.

A panel of dark teal blue creates a datum line around the walls, designed to be "resilient to little fingers" while making the tall spaces feel more relatable to children.

"We always try to design from a child's perspective, putting ourselves at that level, quite literally in some cases," Raher said.

The soft blue of the flooring gels with the tones of the pale maple veneer and the matt pink that wraps around the ceiling and upper walls, covering almost the entire mezzanine.

"It both draws your eye upwards but also manages to change the scale of the space," said Raher. "In some areas there is a five-metre ceiling height, so we wanted to break this up visually."

"The services for heating, cooling and ventilation were also left exposed, giving a little insight for children to explore and imagine what they could be – a network of intriguing forms and geometry running through the nursery."

Other kindergartens that hope to forge a greater connection to nature include this English nursery by Feilden Clegg Bradley, which makes use of natural materials to reflect the surrounding woodland, and a timber kindergarten extension in Austria by Bernardo Bader Architekten.

The photography is by Fred Howarth.

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Architecture studio Yukawa Design Lab has created a children's library overlooking Shirasagi Park in Sakai, Japan.

Connected by a bridge to the neighbouring park, Yukawa Design Lab designed the timber-framed building with large windows to connect it to the green space.

On the ground floor, the 192-square-metre building has an infant zone and cafe along with outdoor seating for use by the local community and children.

Large, playful, wooden steps, which provide a "resting space" for the children, lead to a reading space on the upper floor that overlooks the lobby.

The spaces were unified under a shingle-covered, mono-pitched roof to encourage visitors to feel "connected to each other under one roof".

According to the studio, this roof was also designed as a way to connect the children to "the forces of nature" such as sunlight and rain as another learning experience.

The facade was made largely from glass to create a "unique exterior and fun atmosphere" to encourage engagement from the children.

Double-height walls offer space to store over 3,000 books, while large openings provide views in and out of the space, allowing for the local community to engage with the library activities.

The building's orientation optimises views of the neighbouring park to create a "calm and comfortable" learning space for the children.

The kinked facade mimics the shape of an opened book, with the building's entrance strategically aligned with the nearby bridge entering the park.

This reinforces a connection between the library and Shirasagi park to encourage a flow of movement from one to the other.

The openings have also been carefully designed to allow indirect sunlight into the space, with the slanted roof providing shading from direct western sunlight.

In keeping with the surrounding natural landscape, the timber structure is visible in the interior and complimented by green and grey carpeting.

According to the studio, the project was designed to create a nurturing environment for the children with a wider goal of involving local people, businesses, and universities, and increasing the cultural value of the area.

Yukuwa Design Lab is an architecture firm based in Osaka and Kyoto, Japan. Previous projects by Yukawa Design Lab include a house built around a multi-purpose atrium.

The photography is by Tanaka Katsu.

Project credits:

Architect: Yukawa Design Lab
Structural design: Jun Yanagimuro Structural Design
Construction: Vico Office

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Local studio KOKO Architecture + Design has created a permanent interactive children's play space at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Located in the museum's 81st Street Studio, which was formally a library, the space contains a variety of multi-sensory analogue and digital play stations for children aged three to 11 in order to inspire creativity and exploration.

"Unlike in many of our galleries, we want you to touch everything," said Met CEO and director Max Hollein.

KOKO Architecture + Design founders Adam Weintraub and Mishi Hosono incorporated elements of the Met's collection both directly and indirectly into the space.

"It was challenging because the Met is encyclopedic, there's so much to draw from," Weintraub told Dezeen. Items were chosen to complement the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) teaching philosophy of the centre.

"It was almost overwhelming, but one of the kind of guiding principles was this idea of STEAM with art layers. Every single element had to teach but also tie into the collection."

The designers split the 3,500-square-foot (325 square metre) space into two distinct levels, with a staircase, a "material passageway", a faux grass hill and an assortment of musical instruments, designed in collaboration with Yamaha, at the entrance.

The material passage, which runs along the length of a ramp, contains columns of wooden cladding and textures young guests can both touch and smell.

A panel of wooden screening was sourced directly from the museum after the designers were told it would be thrown out. Another wooden lattice texture is a reproduction of a screen found in the museum's Islamic collection.

Weintraub said that the screens will be changed out periodically.

Along with the material passage, a brightly coloured, rippled staircase leads to the next level, which contains seating areas, reading spaces, art-making stations and an interactive digital exhibition.

The studio installed a variety of subtle level changes amidst meandering paths.

"The idea is that adults can find their child but from a child's eye perspective, it's all these different worlds," said Weintraub. "They can run through them as often as they want."

On the far end of the space, a padded, sunken area provides spaces for children to play.

A large projection of tree branches covers the area, which, like other lighting integrated into the space, will change colours depending on the season.

Working with experience design firm Bluecadet, Weintraub and Hosono incorporated digital elements into the space like small circular screens built into cabinetry and arched lighting over reading spaces.

"There's a little subtle magic that is integrated," said Hosono. "It's not too overwhelming, the digital, because, of course, kids are drawn to the screen."

The space is largely clad in light wood panelling, with brightly coloured carpeting and finishing throughout.

"[Hosono] says to us, even though we're designing for kids we're not trying to dumb it down," said Weintraub. "It still has to be sophisticated."

"Even more sophisticated," Hosono added. "Because they are very honest."

KOKO Architecture + Design was founded in 2000 and is based in New York, New York. The studio specializes in early childhood education and children’s spaces.

Recently at the Met, artist Lauren Halsey covered an Eqyptian rooftop installation with LA street art and Frida Escobedo was announced as the architect for a redesign of the museum's Oscar L Tang and HM Agnes Hsu-Tang wing.

The photography is by Richard Lee, courtesy of the Met.

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Amsterdam-based Studio Lentala has designed the Rom & Lupa chairs to improve children's physical and mental health.

Named Rom & Lupa, the seats were designed to provide active sitting solutions following research by the studio that showed the negative impact passive sitting has on the physical and mental health of children.

"Chairs shape our daily movement patterns, limiting our bodies to very few sitting postures and leading to us missing out on gentle muscular diversity," said Studio Lentala founder Boris Lancelot.

"The result is a negative cycle where inactivity leads to poor physical fitness, poor health and low self-esteem," he told Dezeen. "For these reasons, some have called sitting the new smoking."

According to the studio, our bodies are able to take more than a hundred sitting positions, which are embraced in other countries including Japan and Indonesia.

This encouraged Lancelot to investigate ways to implement those practices into Western sitting routines, resulting in the design of Rom & Lupa.

"In non-Western cultures, people exercise a much wider range of sitting postures in their daily life exposing their bodies to consistent gentle muscular activity which is vital for our social and physical development," Lancelot explained.

"The Rom & Lupa seats enable active sitting in a largely unconscious way since they are designed so that after a while each posture becomes slightly uncomfortable, which encourages the child to shift regularly between sitting postures," he continued.

"In other words, the design philosophy deliberately seeks to make sitting an activity"

The studio worked with movement scientists, Simon Caljouw, an assistant professor at the University of Groningen and John van der Kamp, an associate professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, to create the chair to allow freedom in mobility for school-aged children.

The resulting chairs – Rom that has a sloped seating platform and Lupa that has two felted areas connected by a lowered central section – encourage children to alternate between a range of eight sitting positions.

"The two Lentala kid's seating designs are unique because they offer a range of at least eight different sitting postures, inviting children to explore these and additional possibilities," said Lancelot. "No posture is more desirable and each child can adopt postures that fit their needs and body."

"To enable wider variation in postures, the chairs are designed according to the 'principle of variation'. These selected postures are based on the most common universal sitting postures of all cultures and times,"he continued.

"The selected postures of the design come from testing positional changes.Designing a seat that serves the body involved an intuitive design process that took shape through physical sensation and experimentation."

Rom & Lupa were crafted from FSC-certified birch and topped with natural woollen felt.

"We aim to design for both healthy lifestyles and a healthy planet by using natural and renewable materials," Lancelot said.

"Sourcing birch wood from the nordics, the Lentala kids furniture pieces are produced in the Baltics where the birch veneer is also from."

Other seating designs recently featured on Dezeen include two oversized chairs made from steel and fibreglass designed by Yinka Ilori for an installation in east London and four benches which were installed throughout the Royal Docks as part of this year's London Festival of Architecture.

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Salvaged wood and colourful murals by local artists are among the decorative features in the NBBJ-designed Odessa Brown Children's Clinic, which combines medical services with public amenities like a basketball court and community kitchen.

The healthcare facility is located in Seattle's Othello neighbourhood, a diverse area that historically has been home to immigrant communities.

The project involved extensive public outreach and engagement, and spaces are specifically designed with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) users in mind.

The clinic occupies two levels in a six-storey building called Othello Square, which also contains apartments and a kindergarten.

Owned by Seattle Children's Hospital, the clinic provides medical, dental and mental health services for kids. The facility also includes community centre-type spaces, such as a basketball court and study areas.

"The community asked that this clinic be about more than healthcare – a place to hang out after school and study, play basketball and soccer, hold events, share a meal and access food resources," said NBBJ, which is headquartered in Seattle.

"The OBCC's connective amenities are open to not just clinic patients but the neighbourhood at large, uniting multiple generations to foster teaching, learning and sharing."

The clinic's ground level encompasses a recreation centre and community kitchen, while the medical functions are housed on the upper level. The facility totals 41,679 square feet (3,872 square metres).

The team drew upon the local milieu to plan, organise and decorate the facility.

A range of healthcare rooms – for exams, treatment, counselling, consultation and imaging – are arranged around a waiting room. Envisioned as a "town square", the central space features comfortable furniture and areas for studying and reading.

Familiar elements such as front porches and neighbourhood blocks inspired certain design features in the clinic. Bright colours were inspired by the local context and are meant to "express vibrancy and joy".

Commissioned work by local artists is featured throughout, helping the facility feel welcoming and relatable.

"Community members expressed that they did not want the space to feel clinical, and emphasized the idea of 'no blank walls'," the team said.

A mix of materials can be found on the walls, such as printed murals, stretched fabric and salvaged skip-planed wood siding. Flooring includes polished concrete, rubber and linoleum, and ceilings are covered in acoustical panels.

Casework is made of white oak and faux-wood laminate, and privacy screens are fabricated of perforated metal.

While NBBJ has designed numerous healthcare facilities, this project required an unconventional approach.

"The traditional process of design doesn't work uniformly, and it's not particularly well suited to disadvantaged communities," the team said.

"How then do you create a more equitable process and outcomes? How do you give the community a voice?"

The team sought extensive input from a range of stakeholders, including patients, parents, medical practitioners, childcare providers, and others. That input directly shaped the design of the space.

"We learned an inclusive design process lets the community lead," the team said. "It is grounded in trust and relationships, transparency and connections."

Other recent projects by NBBJ include a colourful playground at a public housing complex in Los Angeles, which it designed in collaboration with American musician Flea.

The photography is by Sean Airhart.

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Inverted brick arches crown the Central Somers Town children's community centre near King's Cross, London, created by local studio Adam Khan Architects.

The project forms the home of Plot 10, a community children's play project established in the 1970s that previously occupied a series of self-built timber structures on the site.

It sits adjacent to an apartment block, also designed by Adam Khan Architects and completed with matching arched motifs.

Adam Khan Architects was tasked with creating the buildings as part of the Central Somers Town masterplan, developed by architecture studio DSDHA.

The aim is to provide community facilities and housing for one of the London Borough of Camden's most deprived areas.

Both buildings are finished in London brick, concrete and red metalwork, and are enlivened by arched forms chosen to evoke a variety of references.

"We like architecture that is rich in associations and open to being interpreted by people in multiple, diverse ways and by people of diverse backgrounds and levels of interest and engagement," founder Adam Khan told Dezeen.

"If you see a palace, a mosque or a sandcastle, that's fine. If you're keen on eighteenth-century Parisian hôtel particuliers you'll notice some affinities. Or, if you live locally you'll already be familiar with arched openings giving glimpses into planted courtyards," he added.

In order to provide privacy to the children's centre, Adam Khan Architects sandwiched the building between two external play areas that are wrapped by brick walls.

Where the centre faces directly onto the street, the studio positioned a series of arched "shopfront" windows that provide an opportunity to display children's work while obscuring the play areas from view.

"A hierarchy of openings, glimpses into courtyards and deep window reveals quietly satisfy the many and stringent safeguarding and privacy demands, whilst projecting welcome and vitality," explained the studio.

Inside, the "creative improvisation" that has characterised Plot 10's history informed a double-height space for "free-form play" across a variety of scales, developed through exploratory workshops with the organisation.

In the corner of the building, a timber toilet block is topped by a more private, glazed room, overlooking the play areas below.

On the roof, a crown of inverted brick arches surrounds a playing field, with the parapet framing views out across the surroundings.

"It is difficult to self-build or improvise big, high-excitement structures, so we built two big towers that provide exciting high-level play – including wheelchair-accessible play at higher levels, which is unusual," explained Khan.

"Then, we made a strong timber armature framing the rest of the playground, allowing easy slinging up of swings, ropes and theatre drapes," he continued.

In the adjacent residential block are 10 social-rented apartments. Each one is triple-aspect, with day-lit hallways, large windows and generous balconies.

The arched motifs of the children's centre are subtly reflected in an arched entranceway and the gentle wave-like form of a concrete canopy where the apartment block faces the street.

Elsewhere in the Central Somers Town development, Hayhurst & Co created the Edith Neville Primary School, which features a landscaped playground.

Other arched buildings recently featured on Dezeen include a row of six brick-clad townhouses in London and a Mexican holiday home by CO-LAB Design Office.

The photography is by David Grandorge unless stated otherwise. 

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A Cold War-era building designed to withstand nuclear blasts is among the structures that have been renovated by Elkus Manfredi Architects at the newly established Children's National Research & Innovation Campus.

The 12-acre (4.8-hectare) campus is located in northwest Washington DC and is part of the former site of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which moved to a new site in Bethesda, Maryland.

The military medical complex – famous for being the spot where American presidents were taken for medical treatment – opened in 1909 and features dozens of buildings.

The 110-acre (44-hectare) site is now being converted into a multi-use complex with housing, research facilities, embassies and other buildings.

For the historic site, Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects designed a master plan for an auxiliary campus belonging to Children's National Hospital, one of the nation's top pediatric hospitals.

The hospital – whose main campus is nearby – needed more space for research and medical care and was deeded the Walter Reed land by the US Congress.

In addition to the master plan, Elkus Manfredi Architects oversaw the renovation of three historic buildings and a large parking garage.

"The visionary master plan ties together diverse buildings from various eras into a cohesive whole," the team said, noting that the Walter Reed campus is a designated historic district.

"As part of this important historic site, the buildings are protected and any change to the exterior is carefully reviewed."

The largest structure, called Building 54, houses the Children's National Research Institute and totals 332,000 square feet (30,844 square metres).

The brutalist building dates to 1953 and was originally designed by the local firm of Faulkner, Kingsbury and Stenhouse.

Designed for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the building was conceived as "a multi-storey concrete bunker that would house highly sensitive government research and be able to withstand a hydrogen bomb blast on the US Capitol".

Made of cast-in-place concrete, the imposing building has five stories above ground and three stories below. In the 1970s, an extension was added to the south side of the building.

Concrete facades have a distinctive board-marked pattern, and walls are up to three feet (one metre) thick.

To bring more sunlight into the building, Elkus Manfredi Architects created a number of openings on the exterior using "a complex process of concrete boring".

"This increase of over 6,000 square feet of openings raised the window-to-wall ratio from under three per cent to over 21 per cent," the team said.

"It was no easy task with three-foot thick concrete walls designed to withstand a nuclear blast."

The team re-oriented the building's main entrance so it faces the pediatric medical campus.

Within the building, the team created wet and dry laboratories, a vivarium, a rooftop deck, and other spaces for working and socializing. Patterning in certain areas, such as the lobby, alludes to the building's textured concrete facades.

The campus project also included the renovation of Building 52, a Civil War-era medical ward that now houses an outpatient clinic for the Primary Care and Rare Disease Institute.

The red brick, Georgian-style building received a new entrance and a host of interior updates, including a fresh colour palette that is "at once vibrant and reassuring".

Interior changes were also made to the Building 53 Post Theater, now called the Boeing Auditorium. The 300-set theatre has new wood panelling and state-of-the-art technical elements.

Last off, the five-level Rumbaugh parking garage received a massive, 1.15-megawatt rooftop solar array that covers 1.64 acres.

Daylighting controls, chilled beams and an extensive stormwater-management system are among the additional sustainability features at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus.

Overall, the project gave new life to a series of historic buildings and provided critical space for Children's National Hospital, the team said.

"There are few issues more urgent than children's health, and the campus has achieved the dual goals of freeing up needed space in the main Children's Hospital while spurring groundbreaking research into pediatric diseases," the team said.

Other recent projects in Washington DC include the Mecanoo-led renovation of a glass-and-steel library designed by Mies van der Rohe and the completion of a housing block with a staggered facade by Studio Twenty Seven Architecture and Leo A Daly.

The photography is by Halkin Mason.

Project credits:

Master planner and architect: Elkus Manfredi Architects
Landscape architect: Mikyoung Kim Design
Construction manager: Suffolk
Clinical planning: Array Architects
Structural engineer: McNamara Salvia
MEP FP engineers: BR+A
Historic preservation: EHT Traceries
Vivarium planning: Jacobs Engineers
Code: Jensen Hughes
Cost control: Vermeulens
Envelope engineering: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Signage/wayfinding: Roll Baressi & Associates
Wind/wake: RWDI
Vertical transportation: Van Deusen and Associates
Civil engineering: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin

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Architecture studios De Matos Ryan and AOC have included a staircase informed by optical illusions and a bright red performance stage in the refurbished Young V&A children's museum in east London.

Formerly called the Museum of Childhood, Young V&A is located in Bethnal Green, east London, within a Grade II-listed building that is over 150 years old and houses objects sourced from 2,300BC to the present day.

Architecture studios De Matos Ryan and AOC worked with the V&A's project team to renovate the museum, as well as 22,000 schoolchildren, teachers, families, local people and both Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and other community groups.

Aimed at children aged up to 14, Young V&A is spread over three galleries marked by giant words – Play, Imagine and Design – around a central "town square" space under a barrel-vaulted roof.

This central space was stripped of clunky roof additions made over the years, while a previously boarded-up, large semi-circular window was revealed to let natural light into the space.

"The central town square provides a generous civic interior in Bethnal Green," said AOC.

De Matos Ryan added a spiral staircase to this space that was topped with a striking reflective orb.

The studio worked with children to design the staircase, which was informed by optical illusion toys in the V&A collection.

The Design gallery is located on the first floor and features a range of objects by both established and emerging creatives such as kitchenware and toys, which intend to highlight the role of design in everyday life over time.

Artwork from various political movements has a place in the gallery, such as a colourful poster by artist Keith Haring dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and a copy of climate activist Greta Thunberg's book No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, which was published when Thunberg was 16.

There is also an exhibit about Petit Pli – a wearable technology brand by Ryan Mario Rasin that manufactures children's clothes fitted with a pleat system that expands to fit kids as they grow.

The Design gallery also features sawtooth roof structures that nod to the original architecture of the South Kensington Museum – the site that has been known as London's V&A museum since 1899.

Created primarily for younger children, the Play gallery is located on the ground floor.

It was designed with an interactive sandpit and colour-coded design objects that invite kids to form connections between objects.

AOC added a 125-person-capacity all-red carpeted stage and performance area to the Imagine gallery, which is opposite the Play gallery, where children can dress up and put on their own show.

In this gallery, visitors can also find Joey the horse – a life-size puppet made in 2009 that was used in over 1600 London performances of War Horse, a world war one play by writer Michael Morpurgo that ran for two years.

"The museum is the first of its kind and by continuing to work in partnership with teachers and schools, locally and across the country, it will become a national resource for supporting the teaching of art and design," said V&A director Tristram Hunt.

The renovation also includes a new gift shop and a cafe, while lower-ground spaces accommodate services including a play studio, a reading space or quiet room and what the museum described as the borough's first Changing Places toilet – a lavatory designed for full accessibility.

Young V&A reopens to the public this weekend.

As well as South Kensington, the V&A has an additional site in Dundee, Scotland. The V&A is also planning to open a fourth museum at London's Olympic Park in 2025. The South Kensington site's previous exhibitions have included a photography show by Tim Walker and the menswear exhibition Fashioning Masculinities.

The photography is by Luke Hayes unless otherwise stated and is courtesy of the V&A.

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Brightly coloured volumes and sweeping curves create a playful atmosphere in the Haikou Jiangdong Huandao Experimental School, which Trace Architecture Office has added to the Chinese island of Hainan.

Designed as part of a wider development alongside a kindergarten and student accommodation, the secondary school was created to encourage a retreat from traditional forms of education, with uniquely shaped forms adding a sense of creativity to the campus.

"We aimed to create a nurturing environment that celebrates creativity and interaction rather than examination-oriented learning cultures,” the studio told Dezeen.

"The spaces created stimulate imagination and surprise, instead of simply following the rules and regulations."

The school sits on a playfully sloped site in the coastal city of Haikou and comprises a series of curved volumes and rectilinear forms that intersect under a concrete roof.

Aiming to create spaces that stimulate creativity, Beijing-based studio Trace Architecture Office arranged the school across brightly coloured spaces designed to echo children's playfulness.

"The colour breaks from the white standard, giving the space character. It also has the role of zoning, as in such a huge volume, pure white space is easy to get lost in," said principal architect Hua Li.

Between the classrooms and raised walkways, a range of outdoor spaces shaded by the large roof offer comfortable outdoor spaces in the city's subtropical climate.

"Haikou's climate is subtropical, with very mild or pleasantly warm winters and hot, humid and rainy summers," said Li.

"The design creates plenty of semi-exterior spaces and platforms which actively respond to the local tropical climate, providing shading and protection against intense heat as well as strong wind and rains."

Inside, walkways and ramps bordered by walls finished in vibrant colours run between a series of white-painted classrooms.

Towards the other side of the main building, a triple-height gymnasium is lit by a roof perforated with a grid of skylights punctuated by a series of beams.

Other spaces on the campus include a double-height canteen where voids between intersecting levels create a curved skylight.

Walkways raised on white columns wrap around the room and connect the space to the rest of the school.

Connected to the main school building, a dormitory block features accommodation units wrapped around a bright courtyard spread across several curved layers.

Additional semi-outdoor spaces are created between cantilevered volumes and angled pillars, which the studio hopes will act as informal spaces for learning.

"The ways students utilise campus are not only confined to the use of traditional classrooms, but also the inhabitation of undefined public spaces, which contributes to a huge part of education," said Li.

"As students spend years at school, including the period of adolescence, the architecture of the school has a long-term influence on them. We hope the spaces will stimulate imagination and surprise, instead of simply following the rules and regulations," it continued.

Other schools recently completed by the studio include an elementary school spread across huts with a range of roof forms and a school with zigzagging walkways designed to encourage play.

The photography is by Chen Hao.

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Primary school children in London have created temporary performance structures as part of the Let's Build community project, organised by architecture educator Matt+Fiona to engage the local community.

Children aged eight to 11 from four London schools – Christ Church Streatham, Hillmead, Richard Atkins and St John's Angell Town – came together to build plywood stages decorated with red netting for a performance space in Brixton House theatre.

Matt+Fiona organised the Let's Build project to teach students creative and practical building skills that it believes are disappearing from schools.

"Children and young people are becoming more and more disenfranchised from their built environment, and arguably even their own imaginations," said Matt+Fiona co-founder Fiona MacDonald.

According to MacDonald, 760 youth centres have closed since 2010 and the number of students studying design and technology at GCSE level fell by 66 per cent between 2010 and 2020.

"Design and build projects of this kind are invaluable in helping to fill the gap left behind," she told Dezeen. "They give young people the agency to shape their own environments and grow in confidence and their own identities."

Let's Build was commissioned by Brixton House, which wanted Matt+Fiona to develop a community outreach project to engage young people in the local area.

The design brief for the theatre project was set by a group of students in 2019, who wanted to create a performance space that blurred the boundary between performers and audience, but the project was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It was picked up again in 2022 when a new cohort of students from the same four schools developed the brief into a design through a series of workshops.

Over five days in March 2023, students and volunteers measured and cut timber and constructed multiple triangular stages in a theatre space in Brixton House.

"The pre-pandemic ideas explored performance as a non-hierarchical theatrical artform where the boundary between performer and audience is blurred," said Matt+Fiona co-founder Matthew Springett.

"They created a space that was kinetic and could be transformed physically, allowing for a range of activities and performance styles."

"The new students were able to review the past students' work and adapt the key design moves to make it their own through model-making and performance workshops," Springett continued.

The performance structures remain in the theatre for schools and community groups to use for free, and will also be used as a rehearsal space for the Brixton House Youth Theatre.

After its use in the theatre, Brixton House plans to donate the structures to any interested schools or community groups.

"Performance and play bring people together, activate communities and engender a sense of belonging and purpose, and in a landscape altered by the Covid-19 pandemic, when children faced severe levels of loneliness and isolation, this project brings opportunity to nurture creativity and rebuild the confidence and aspirations of the young people involved," said Matt+Fiona.

The project was supported by engineering firm Buro Happold and architecture studio Jestico + Whiles.

Other building projects organised by Matt+Fiona to engage children include a sensory playground designed for children with autism and a creative lab made in collaboration with 100 primary school children.

The photography is by French+Tye unless stated.

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Design studio Pentagram has partnered with social enterprise Ambessa Play to create a DIY flashlight that will be sent to children in refugee camps.

The Ambessa Play flashlight can be assembled from a kit of parts that is designed to be easy for kids to handle while teaching them about science and electricity.

The social enterprise brought in Pentagram partner Jon Marshall to develop the industrial design of the flashlight, which has a colourful and tactile appearance both inside and out.

Marshall and his team aimed to give the flashlight a distinctive, fun design that would suit Ambessa Play's one-for-one business model. For every kit purchased, another just like it will be delivered to a displaced child out of school.

The flashlight operates on a battery-free wind-up mechanism, and it has a flat, wallet-sized shape that Marshall told Dezeen was chosen through workshops with children in refugee camps where they could test functional 3D prototypes.

The workshops were organised through partnerships with the Refugee Council and other charities, which allowed Pentagram and Ambessa Play to regularly meet with their target audience throughout the design process.

"We developed about six to eight initial concepts for the external form, including standard cylindrical torch shapes," said Marshall.

"Children actually made the decision for us on the final design. They chose the flat rectangular form because it was the most compact and they liked that it fits into a pocket."

"They also remarked that this design allowed the flashlight to function as a handheld torch but could be placed upright shining onto the table surface like a lantern for reading," he added.

The finished flashlight also has a lanyard so it can be worn around the neck. It can be wound up using a clip-on hand crank for fast charging, or with that removed, by using the dial on the front to keep the device topped up.

The winding charges a capacitor, which was chosen to keep the design compact and avoid the safety issues of batteries. According to Ambessa Play, one to two minutes of winding creates enough energy to power the LED lamp for around 15 minutes.

For the internal components, the Pentagram team focused on creating attractive tactile details while simplifying the layout for ease of assembly. There are 10 components overall and 16 build steps.

"Much of our prototyping revolved around the development and refinement of the build steps for electronic components in order to strike a balance between simplicity of assembly and learning about the components," said Marshall.

"We also took a lot of care with the layout and grouping of the components to make the design graphically pleasing, not just for aesthetics but to translate the design easily to the printed build instructions," he added.

The coloured, keyboard-key-like cable connectors are a bespoke design, created when off-the-shelf options proved too difficult for children to use during testing.

"It was probably the most technically challenging aspect of solving the design," said Marshall.

The flashlight's casing is made of ABS plastic, which Marshall says was chosen because it is robust and long-lasting, suiting a product designed for repair and longevity.

The flashlight kit is the first product from Ambessa Play, which was founded by tech worker Sara Berkai. The social enterprise plans to deliver the kits to children in camps themselves, via workshops conducted with their existing partner charities.

Pentagram is an international design studio currently run by 22 equal partners who come from different areas of design. Marshall, who is based in the London office, has been a partner since 2018.

He has previously worked on the industrial design of a number of STEM learning kits and interactive toys, including the Yoto screen-free audio player and the Pigzbe cryptocurrency wallet.

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Harnessing soft colours and gentle curves, interior design studio Vives St-Laurent has completed the Billie Le Kid children's shop in Mont-Tremblant – a Canadian ski resort known for its colourful architecture.

Following on from Billie Le Kid's first store in Montreal, the brand brought in Vives St-Laurent to create a new outpost that captured the spirit of the brand while reflecting its location.

Its storefront was designed to resemble a theatre, showcasing the brand's wholesome edit of children's clothes, toys and books.

Custom-made awnings recall the idea of a general store, while the front was repainted in a vibrant blue-on-blue palette to reflect Mont-Tremblant's colourful charter.

Referencing the facade, arched openings throughout the boutique bring a whimsical touch to the transitions between different sections.

Rounded corners were used to soften the edges of the display cabinets, adding character and creating a playful and welcoming atmosphere.

Bianco Carrara marble was used on top of the checkout counter to convey a sense of timeless luxury, while moss-coloured velvet changing room curtains reference the theatre concept and bring softness and tactility to the space.

The polished concrete floor was a practical choice, as the low-maintenance material allows skiers to visit the store in their ski boots.

Painted tongue-and-groove panelling was added to give the boutique a touch of nostalgia.

"We combined classic and contemporary materials to create a harmonious yet unique ambience," Vives St-Laurent's interior designer Léa Courtadon told Dezeen.

Courtadon said she chose the store's calming colour palette of stone beige and sage green to create "a whimsical mood that recalls the playful world of childhood while maintaining sophistication and ensuring the products stand out".

Sturdy vintage Canadian furniture was chosen to draw on the idea of the general store and family home. Long wooden refectory tables were repurposed as displays for toys and clothing, adding visual interest while paying homage to the brand's Canadian heritage.

A row of vintage frilled-glass pendant lights creates a feature above the counter.

"The lamps' rippled globes resemble ballerina tutus, adding a delicate touch to the overall design," Courtadon said.

In contrast, the main lighting system with its matt white finish was chosen to blend seamlessly with the store's high ceiling. The railing system allows for precise positioning to highlight different items within the display cabinets.

Vives St-Laurent used baskets for storage to contribute to the nostalgic, homespun aesthetic as well as offering a practical way to store and display plush toys.

"They create an impression of abundance and allow children to interact with the toys, promoting a sense of independence and autonomy," said Courtadon. "It all contributes to a playful and engaging atmosphere that's ideal for a kids' store."

Since its founding in 2018, Vives St-Laurent has completed a range of projects across Canada. Among them is a tactile home in Montreal with a grey-heavy colour scheme.

The photography is by Alex Lesage.

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Tree-like columns and other nature-inspired details feature in this indoor playground, which design studio Sarit Shani Hay has created for the children of employees at an Israeli software company.

The playground is set on the 15th floor of a skyscraper, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows that provide uninterrupted views across the city of Tel Aviv.

Despite this urban setting, Sarit Shani Hay wanted the space to "emphasise closeness to nature" and subtly incorporate biophilic design principles.

The studio has therefore made reference to the outdoors throughout the scheme.

Huge, round pieces of sea blue and forest-green carpet have been set into the floor. Circular panels in the same blue and green hues have also been put on the ceiling, bordered by LED tube lights.

Parts of the floor that are not covered with carpet have been overlaid with plywood or rubber to account for shock absorption.

A series of tall plywood "trees" with spindly branches have been dotted across the room; a couple of them suspend a swinging hammock, while another supports a gridded toy shelf.

Plywood was also used to make house-shaped volumes for the children to play in.

Each of these volumes includes playful interactive features such as ramps, tunnels, rope ladders, sliding poles and secretive nooks.

The children also have the option of using a climbing wall at the rear of the room, which has different-coloured footholds.

The project also saw Sarit Shani Hay create a small kitchen where the children can wash their hands and have snacks prepared for them. This space was finished with sea-blue cabinetry and a gridded tile splashback.

The indoor playground also features a small cafe area, where employees can enjoy their lunch breaks whilst being close to their children.

Playgrounds are increasingly offering more than just swing sets and slides. Architecture studio KWY.studio created a play area for a park in Billund, Denmark that includes pink marble sculptures.

Artist Mike Hewson has also designed a public playground in Melbourne that features giant boulders on wheels, encouraging children to climb and explore intuitively.

The photography is by Roni Cnaani.

Project credits:

Design: Sarit Shani Hay
Lead designer: Adi Levy Harari

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An all-lilac kitchen and bright geometric storage solutions feature in this colourful Stockholm apartment renovation by local studio Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor.

The two-bedroom apartment, which is housed within a 1980s prefabricated concrete building in southern Stockholm, was transformed by the architecture studio for a family with four-year-old twins.

As part of the renovation, Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor created a number of space-saving storage solutions. For example, the original floor plan featured an enclosed storage space in the middle of the apartment.

The studio converted this into a trio of smaller storage units for the living room, the kitchen and the pantry. This was achieved by decreasing the size of the hallway but maintaining a corridor to the open-plan living room and home office.

"The original floor plan was robust and quite deep, with a load-bearing wall separating the living room and bedrooms into two halves," studio co-founder Jesper Westblom told Dezeen.

"We didn't want to close off the spaces by making tiny enclosed rooms, but rather make light additions. The aim was to use small adjustments to make the rooms more defined spatially."

A palette of hues created from a mix of the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow – features throughout the home, with the colours offset by white-painted flooring.

Westblom Krasse Arkitektkontor also chose a combination of pine wood and red medium-density fibreboard to create bespoke joinery and furniture.

The kitchen was finished in a floor-to-ceiling shade of bluey lilac that also characterises a built-in geometric bench next to the dining table and a tall cupboard concealed behind a "secret door".

A large bookshelf divider decorated with organically shaped vases creates a partition between the open-plan living room and office area, with a burnt-orange shelving system providing extra storage.

The office area can also be cordoned off with a curtain to create extra peace and quiet.

The architecture studio's Elephant sideboard – a chunky blue table that owes its name to its sturdiness and colour – was also included in the living space.

The family's twins share one bedroom, which can be entered through two tall and narrow doors, adding a playful touch to the apartment.

Small windows were also added above these doors to increase the natural light in the home.

Inside the twins' bedroom is a sleeping zone and a play area, which are separated by a low wall to create a clear delineation between the two spaces.

"One of the biggest – and most fun – challenges was to make every single space useful and effective and make room for both play and recovery," reflected Westblom.

Westblom and Robin Krasse founded their eponymous Stockholm-based studio in January 2021.

The firm previously completed the interiors for a local hair salon, which takes cues from architect Carlo Scarpa's geometric designs and the muted colours of 1920s swimming baths.

The photography is by Jesper Westblom.

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Toy brand Lego has added five diverse characters including a girl with the skin condition vitiligo, one with limb difference and another with anxiety to its collection of Lego Friends figures.

Released by the Danish toy manufacturer last month, the new characters have a range of skin tones, physical disabilities and neurodiverse psychological conditions.

"The 2023 Lego Friends Universe includes characters with a wider variety of skin tones, cultural backgrounds, disabilities and neurodiversity, all with authentic personalities and relationships," said Lego.

"This next generation is designed to celebrate diverse friendships in the modern world."

Each new Lego Friends character has its own storyline and capabilities. Liann "is naturally curious and at times a bit impulsive," while Paisley is described by the brand as someone who "sometimes struggles with anxiety" and crafts-lover Fiona has Down's Syndrome.

Meanwhile, Lego said that Autumn – who was born with one limb missing – "is happiest when on her own exploring nature and the outdoors" and Jordin has vitiligo, which gives her skin different-coloured pigments.

While the mini figures cannot be purchased on their own, they can be bought within world-building sets that include an art school, a dog rescue centre and an international school.

The characters also appear in digital format in a video series released on Youtube. They form part of Lego's latest release, which also includes other re-imagined characters.

Recent research conducted by the company found that 68 per cent of children want toys to better reflect real life. Research conducted by Opinium Research for Lego gathered data from 18,000 children aged between six and 12 in 19 countries.

A key takeaway was that the toys needed to be relatable so that children could learn from them and apply their newfound knowledge to their own relationships.

"After an incredible 10 years on Lego Friends, this re-imagination has enabled us to push the boundaries in the reflection of modern, childhood friendships so that children can truly see their experiences reflected in the world around them," said head of product at Lego Friends Tracie Chiarella.

"From the research, it's great to see that kids acknowledge the importance of friendship for their mental health and it's encouraging to hear they want more emotional diversity to be represented in the content they consume and the toys and characters they play with."

The set forms part of Lego Friends, a product range of Lego toys that was created in 2012. The range was originally targeted at girls after Lego found that older girls typically no longer play with Lego's plastic construction bricks.

The Lego Friends line has faced criticism over its gendered approach since it debuted and has since pledged to remove gender bias from its products.

The company has also made moves to make its traditional building bricks more accessible. It created a collection of bricks printed with letters and numbers from the braille alphabet, so that blind and partially sighted children could learn to read as they play.

To keep up with societal changes, it also released a kit for building and programming robots, which was designed to encourage a younger generation to learn how to code.

The images are courtesy of Lego.

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Brightly coloured volumes and angular forms characterise this nursery in the Czech Republic, which was designed by Czech studio Architektura to echo childhood playfulness.

Located in Říčany, a town in the Prague-East District, the Větrník Kindergarten features a gym, garden, classrooms and a playground, spread across coloured blocks that branch out from a central white structure.

Its design is informed by childhood, with an arrangement that aims to evoke playfulness and spontaneity, and forms that emulate dens and tents.

"The jagged floor plan draws upon the absence of geometry in the child's mind, a different order, playfulness, and spontaneity," Architektura director David Kraus told Dezeen.

Each of Větrník Kindergarten's brightly coloured blocks holds a classroom, while the rest of its facilities are contained within the main white cube.

"The children themselves were essential – their games, movement, vision, and scale," added Kraus. "Children's spontaneity, disorganisation, unpredictability, purity, curiosity, and optimism impacted the design."

Větrník Kindergarten's street-facing facade has an entrance that is intended to resemble a spaceship, alongside a living wall that Architektura hopes will grow and thicken to cover the entire elevation.

Through the entrance, visitors and students are welcomed by an atrium in the white central structure. Offices and other practical facilities are also included in this central block.

A large net for play spans the entrance atrium, supported by tree trunks. The area underneath this serves as a community space that can accommodate music, theatre, and exhibitions.

Branching out from the atrium are the individual classrooms, which are connected to the garden and topped with square-shaped skylights.

Větrník Kindergarten's classrooms also feature triangular windows, some of which are bordered by coloured frames. Angled columns and brightly coloured floors allow the playful design of the building to continue inside.

Outside, a playground with climbing frames and other equipment is designed to mimic an amusement park. While it is currently under construction, the studio hopes it will become a nature-filled space that will encourage imaginative play.

"The effort was to design a living area, full of entertainment attractions, climbing frames, game elements, a kind of landscape of children's fantasy, maybe even an amusement park," said Kraus.

"We wanted to build an object for children that is not an institution, it is playful and will enable the development of creativity."

Other nurseries recently featured on Dezeen include a nursery and forest school made from natural materials and a Paris nursery made from adobe.

The photography is by Filip Šlapal.

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Dezeen School Shows: we've picked nine design projects featured in Dezeen School Shows that explore new ways for children to learn and play in addition to projects that aim to improve mental and physical health.

This roundup includes a toy that intends to improve toddlers' communication skills and a simulation game that aims to ease children's anxiety during a blood test.

The selection of projects come from product, furniture and industrial design courses at international institutions including University of Wales Trinity St David, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique, Brunel University, Hong Kong Design Institute and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Growth Garden by Sophie Lazenby

Industrial Design and Technology BA student Sophie Lazenby has created a therapy game that aims to support conversations with children about loss.

Called Growth Garden, the game facilitates discussions between parents and their children through play, and aims to prevent mental health issues such as anxiety and depression in adult life.

"On average, one in five children will experience the loss of someone close to them by age 18," said Lazenby. "The Growth Garden game provides an engaging distraction activity and conversation prompt for parents to talk to their children and help the child communicate how they are feeling in a way they understand most, through play."

Student: Sophie Lazenby
School: Brunel University
Course: Industrial Design and Technology BA

View the full school show ›

Build & Ride by Adam Higgins

MSc Industrial Design student Adam Higgins has made a bike that must be assembled to be used, which aims to improve children's coordination and motor skills.

Called Build & Ride, the bike's construction consists of a ten-step process. Once built, the bike intends to give the child confidence and a sense of achievement.

"Build & Ride is a children's balance bike that engages users with practical STEM learning outcomes," said Higgins. "Gaining a great sense of accomplishment and confidence, the child can hit the ground running with their first bike adventure."

Student: Adam Higgins
School: University of Wales Trinity St David
Course: MSc Industrial Design

View the full school show ›

Smile Brace by Nazifa Begum

Nazifa Begum, an Industrial Design and Technology student, has assembled a device for clubfoot patients that seeks to move away from the appearance of traditional medical devices.

By creating a slipper-style design, Smile Brace includes a mechanism that helps to support children's feet while providing a comfortable and adjustable experience.

"The Smile Brace is designed to assist clubfoot patients become more compliant with their brace use by improving the overall comfort and experience, thus decreasing recurrence rates," said Begum. "An abduction dorsiflex mechanism was integrated into the design to maintain the correction of clubfoot."

Student: Nazifa Begum
School: Brunel University
Course: Industrial Design and Technology BA

View the full school show ›

Orbi by Coralie Haegeman

Coralie Haegeman, a Design and Innovation student, has created a moveable desk that seeks to encourage elementary school students to do their homework.

By including a handle and adjustable legs, the desk allows students to choose where to study and aims to make school assignments more fun.

"Orbi is a nomadic desk that allows the child to be mobile and choose where to study," said Haegeman. "The desk is the size of a large open school book."

Student: Coralie Haegeman
School: L'École de design Nantes
Course: MDes Design and Innovation

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Milky Assistant by Leung Yee Ting, Zhu Wenjie and Hu Yuyang

Multimedia and Entertainment Technology students Leung Yee Ting, Zhu Wenjie and Hu Yuyang have produced a device and mobile app that allow parents to track their baby's feeding.

Called Milky Assistant, the students aim to reduce carers' anxiety by facilitating feeding tracking.

"The two key components for a baby's growth and development are sleep and feeding", said the students. "These create the foundation for a healthy life during infancy."

Students: Leung Yee Ting, Zhu Wenjie and Hu Yuyang
School: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Course: MSc in Multimedia and Entertainment Technology

View the full school show ›

PreMedPrep by Adam Higgins

Adam Higgins, an Msc Industrial Design student, has designed a toy that allows children to imitate blood tests with the aim of reducing the anxiety children experience during the test.

According to Higgins, PreMedPrep is an example of a medical prep test that has yet to be available in hospitals. With this toy, Higgins intends to distract the child during the blood test procedure, making the experience easier for children, medical professionals and parents.

"The purpose of the interactive toy is to utilise visual learning to provide emotional and cognitive support to children," said Higgins. "Letting children play with the product allows them to discover how blood tests are administered, distracting them from their fears or anxieties and feeling more in control of the situation."

Student: Adam Higgins
School: University of Wales Trinity St David
Course: MSc Industrial Design

View the full school show ›

Embrace by John Ho

Product design student John Ho has developed a baby stroller with a raised baby seat to make navigation easier for parents with low or impaired vision.

Called Embrace, the baby stroller includes a brake and a wider wheelbase that aim to enhance security and mobility in case of an emergency.

"For many parents with low or impaired vision that can only see distances of less than three metres, existing baby strollers limit their ability to navigate safely when they are with their child," said Ho. "Embrace repositions the baby seat closer to the user to give them a clear view of the environment ahead."

Student: John Ho
School: Hong Kong Design Institute
Course: HD in Product Design

View the full school show ›

Attach by Lauren Gooch

Product and Furniture Design student Lauren Gooch has completed an over-the-shoulder bag for oxygen cylinders, which aims to give children who require constant oxygen treatment more independency.

Attach can be hooked to bikes and scooters, intending to allow users to be involved in physical and social activities without the help of a parent or carer.

"The over-the-shoulder feature and universal hook attaches the cylinder securely to scooters, bikes and other equipment, making the product suitable for most activities and allowing the user to be more independent," said Gooch.

Student: Lauren Gooch
School: University of Wales Trinity St David
Course: BA Product and Furniture Design

View the full school show ›

Theo by Ioana Saioc

Ioana Saioc, a Product Design Engineering BSc student, has produced an interactive tennis-ball-shaped toy that aims to make sports more engaging for children.

After realising many children's preference for digital over physical games, Saioc designed Theo – a toy that features a speaker, visual cards and sensors that react to the child's actions.

"With 80 per cent of children preferring digital over physical play, sports such as tennis are experiencing decreased participation due to lack of enjoyment," said Saioc. "The child chooses a card and inserts it into the device. The speaker will first explain the rules after which the ball lights up and the game begins."

Student: Ioana Saioc
School: Brunel University
Course: Product Design Engineering BSc

View the full school show ›

Partnership content

These projects are presented in school shows from institutions that partner with Dezeen. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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Timber and rubber are among the natural materials used at this nursery in Stoke-on-Trent, which British practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios has designed to echo an adjacent nature reserve.

Named Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School, the building is located in a former car park at Staffordshire University and provides childcare services for its students and staff, as well as teaching facilities for its own education department.

As part of the project, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios also created a forest school to support an outreach programme in Stoke-on-Trent focused on providing nature-based learning for children.

The studio's design supports this initiative by ensuring all of the facilities bring children and staff in close contact with the natural surroundings.

"The nursery has a seamless connection with its woodland setting, supporting an adaptable and holistic learning environment that can encourage education through nature, play and adventure," said Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios partner Simon Branson.

"Using a highly insulated pre-fabricated timber structure for the construction, plentiful north and west light from the rooflights and natural ventilation, it not only has a low impact on the environment but a connection to it, allowing its users to benefit to the utmost," he told Dezeen.

Described by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios as "a deceptively simple single-storey building", the nursery comprises two wings that frame a play garden bordered by a covered colonnade.

One of the wings is dedicated to spaces for babies and preschool children, while the other is used for the forest school.

This L-shaped layout gives each classroom access to and views of the surroundings and ensures children's privacy and safety from the adjacent road.

There are individual entrances for the nursery and forest school to ensure they can function independently.

Along the rooftop are projecting aluminium-coated skylights that bring natural light into the nursery rooms, minimising the need for artificial lighting.

These skylights also help to naturally vent the interior and allow warm air to escape, forming part of a natural ventilation strategy and effort to minimise the building's energy demand.

While connecting occupants with nature, another key goal of the project was for the building to be net-zero carbon in construction and in use.

"When considering a design that will educate and care for the next generation, we thought it was essential that it would not contribute negatively to their future world," explained Branson.

Alongside the skylights that aid natural ventilation, other measures taken to reduce energy in operation include large openable doors and a colonnade that shades the classrooms.

Heating and cooling are provided by air-source heat pumps and a ground-coupled heat exchanger, while rooftop photovoltaics are used to generate electricity, with any excess fed back to the university's power network.

Natural and low-carbon materials also formed a key part of this strategy, and were selected using the studio's own early-stage carbon calculator named FCBS Carbon.

Highly insulated timber was used for the main structure, alongside timber cladding and plywood floors that were used instead of a conventional concrete screed. To reduce material waste, the whole building's structure was sized to available timber sizes.

"From the outset, the nursery was designed to use, wherever possible, natural bio-based components and products," said Branson.

"This approach to the use of natural material meant that, when considering carbon and allowing for sequestration, the timber frames and other elements more than offset the carbon included in the formation of the concrete base," he continued.

"The embodied carbon in the scheme is therefore naturally negative from the outset."

Inside, the natural material palette helps to create a calming environment that echoes the woodland. Alongside the exposed timber, materials include rubber flooring and plywood joinery.

The floor plan is designed to ensure flexibility and easy configuration for activities ranging from wet play to quiet time.

To encourage children to connect with nature, the large openable doors are teamed with low windows, while recessed seating and external benches are dotted throughout.

"It was important to create an easy and intuitive link to the outside," Branson said.

"The doors to the garden are intended to be open much of the time, leading onto a colonnade which provides solar shading and also protection against rain and wind and blurring the boundaries between inside and outside teaching."

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was founded in 1978 by the late architect Richard Feilden and Peter Clegg. It has offices in Bath, London, Manchester, Belfast and Edinburgh.

Other recent projects by the studio include a proposal for a carbon-negative timber office and the revamp of the long-abandoned theatre of Alexandra Palace in London.

The photography is by Daniel Hopkinson.

Project credits:

Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Client: Staffordshire University
Project manager: Mace
Cost consultant: Mace
Structural engineer: CIVIC Engineers
Building services engineer: Max Fordham
Landscape design: Re-form Landscape
Transport consultant: CIVIC Engineers
Contractor: Henry Brothers

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Vancouver startup Glüxkind Technologies has unveiled a pram for babies at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which uses artificial intelligence to push and rock itself.

The Ella stroller has the dimensions of a traditional stroller with a reversible seat, but is battery-powered and integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

This allows it to offer adaptive push and break assistance, making both up- and downhill journeys easier for parents and childminders despite the weight of a fully loaded pram.

The product also features built-in white noise playback and a rock-my-baby mode, which according to Glüxkind Technologies can be activated when Ella is stationary in order to emulate the "soothing" nature of manual rocking without the effort.

Meanwhile, Ella's self-driving capabilities allow the pram to travel without being steered if a parent or childminder wants to engage with the child while on the move.

"[The product's] innovations give parents almost a nanny-like experience," Glüxkind Technologies explained.

Conceived in a neutral black and grey colourway, the pram is the startup's debut product and was designed to make "gear for today's families safer, more inclusive and convenient for all".

The design was unveiled last week at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where it was honoured in the advanced mobility category of the annual CES Innovation Awards.

Founded in 2020 by Anne Hunger and Kevin Huang after welcoming their first child and searching for the optimum pram, Glüxkind Technologies takes its name from the German word glückskind, which translates as "lucky child".

Other projects showcased at this year's edition of CES include a car by Honda and Sony that functions as a "moving entertainment space" and a concept car by BMW that can change into 32 different colours.

Designers are increasingly exploring the potential of AI in their work, with recent projects including IKEA furniture created to adapt to the needs of its user and a wearable voicebox that can produce speech for those who have lost their larynx to cancer.

The images are courtesy of Glüxkind Technologies. 

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Designers Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny have created sculptural olive wood furniture based solely on drawings by children for a Galerie Philia exhibition.

Design Brut: Philia & Kids is the inaugural programme of a non-profit initiative conceived by international art gallery Galerie Philia that aims to engage children in design.

The project's first edition invited 19 kids from a primary school in the Breil-sur-Roya village in France to design sculptural furniture that was exhibited at Espace Meyer Zafra in Paris from November until last week.

Informed by the late French painter Jean Dubuffet, the initiative is named after art brut – or "raw art" – Dubuffet's name for art created outside of academic limitations, such as art made by children.

Participants aged six to seven took part in a workshop over five months, where they were asked to draw their own interpretations of sculptural design under the supervision of BehaghelFoiny Studio founders Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny and their teacher Virgile Ganne.

The drawings range from a crocodile-like bench to colourful dining chairs and spikier, more abstract forms.

"Several shepherds' children drew hooves on the legs of the furniture, or horns on the backs of the chairs," noticed Behaghel and Foiny.

"Others, living near olive groves and the surrounding forest, drew leaves and branches on their furniture," they told Dezeen.

The designers explained that they encouraged the kids to "assert their own creativity" as well as observe their classmates' drawings and borrow forms from each other to make the design experience collaborative.

"Against all odds, we realised that, when faced with furniture design, the children's first intentions were rather wise, and copied the shapes of furniture they saw every day," they said.

After this, Behaghel and Foiny sorted the drawings into different furniture typologies including tables, chairs, stools, coat racks and pedestal tables, as well as categorising the creations by "spirits and styles".

The pair then worked with a cabinetmaker in Breil-sur-Roya to bring the drawings to life by making physical furniture out of local olive wood.

"In some places, we shrank or enlarged the silhouettes drawn by the children, to better distribute the weight," noted the designers.

During this process, the children were taken on a tour of a local sawmill and shown every stage of the production process in order to familiarise them with carpentry.

Behaghel and Foiny explained that olive wood was chosen for its cultural significance to Breil-sur-Roya, which is known as the "pays des oliviers" (olive tree country).

The designers painted the material in various colourful shades that aimed to subtly tint, rather than conceal, its veiny surface.

"It seemed to us very relevant to associate the intervention of very young children wiht a thousand-year-old wood!" noted the designers.

The pair hopes that the workshop will have taught the children about the importance of furniture design while showcasing their personal creativity without limitations.

"In the end, the children's drawings showed a real spontaneity," reflected Behaghel and Foiny.

"They are both free from technical reflexes and therefore led us to take risks and at the same time detached from the aesthetic automatisms that we impose on ourselves more or less consciously as professional designers," they added.

"They led us to extract ourselves from standardisation of tastes and beauty, to play more with imbalances and proportions."

This is not the first time that children have tried their hand at chair design. Third and fourth graders at a school in New York have designed a number of seating collections under the supervision of art instructor Bruce Edelstein, including chairs with horns and other wooden seats.

The photography is by Maison Mouton Noir. 

Design Brut: Philia & Kids was on display at Espace Meyer Zafra from 10 November to 8 December 2022. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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Design duo Eneris Collective has collaborated with Barcelona-based biomaterials company NaifactoryLAB to produce a playful stool for children made from waste olive pits.

The Nontalo stool is constructed from six modules – three P-shaped pieces that can be combined and positioned in different ways and three straight rods that hold them together, forming a variety of shapes from a three-legged stool to a bench seat and many alternatives in between.

All of the modules are made entirely of Reolivar, a smooth cork-like material that NaifactoryLAB created by mixing olive pits with bio-based binders and other natural ingredients.

Spanish designers Irene Segarra and Irene Martínez, who came together under the name Eneris Collective for this project, describe Nontalo as a seating design "where play, spontaneity and sustainability are in harmony".

The duo created the stool after NaifactoryLAB invited them to experiment with Reolivar and develop new applications for the biocomposite.

"For four months, we worked with this new material," Martínez told Dezeen. "We got to know the possibilities it has, the pros and cons, and what its limits are."

"The idea was to generate a structure that doesn't have the obvious shape of a stool with a seat and legs, but maintains the same function," she continued.

The designers began by deciding on a series of words and concepts to define their intention of the project before sketching proposals and interweaving these different ideas.

"Our inspiration throughout this design stage was children's construction sets," said Martínez.

The duo initially created a right-angled design for the P-shaped modules but ended up turning the legs out by five degrees after realising it created better weight distribution as well as bringing a sense of harmony.

To lock the pieces together, users simply have to slot the straight rods through their central opening.

Eneris Collective shaped the Reolivar pieces in custom moulds, which Martínez says has the benefit of limiting waste as there are no offcuts.

The material can be composted at the end of its life or returned to NaifactoryLAB for recycling. The stool's mono-material design makes this particularly straightforward, as there are no other materials or components to separate.

Over the course of its life, the material will age according to its environmental conditions and will last longer in dry, indoor environments away from humidity and rain, according to NaifactoryLAB.

The biomaterials company first developed Reolivar in 2020 using a bunch of olive pits grabbed from a dish at the end of a meal. Since then, it has been turned into a range of products including lamps, bowls, mirrors and trophies.

Eneris Collective is now working to develop a wider Nontalo Kids seating collection, building on the same shapes and ideas.

A number of other designers are experimenting with biomaterials in an attempt to produce more sustainable furniture. Some recent examples include mycelium lampshades from Estonian company Myceen and a stool and side table by Carolina Härdh, made from food waste for Gothenburg restaurant Vrå.

The photography is by Valentina Masallera and Caetano Portal.

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Artist Shezad Dawood has created an architectural playground in Doha that features miniature versions of four well-known buildings in the city.

Dawood worked closely with local architect and architectural historian Fatma Al Sahlawi to choose the buildings for Doha Modern Playground – the Sheraton Hotel by William Pereira, the National Theatre and Ministry of Information by Triad CICO, Qatar University by Kamal El Kafrawi and the Qatar Post Office by Twist & Whitley.

Built between 1982 and 1987, Dawood defines the four buildings as "a key group of modernist buildings that really represented the shift to an independent nation".

"Each of the buildings I referenced had its own quirks and particularities of design that naturally lent themselves to interpretation, such as the iconic pigeon hutches of the Qatar Post Office, or transforming the colonnades of the National Theatre and Ministry of Information into tunnels for children to crawl through," Dawood told Dezeen.

He also made some changes to their designs to make the buildings suitable for a playground.

"The striking mashrabiyas of Qatar University became lamps that lit up at night, with an outer curving climbing wall," he added.

"And last but not least, William Pereira's Sheraton Hotel is a science-fiction masterpiece that first inspired my interest in the modern architectural legacy of Doha."

Located in Doha's Al Masrah Park, Doha Modern Playground features two benches as well as the four play objects, which were made from stainless-steel subframes and glass-reinforced concrete (GRC).

"I wanted them to be materially as close as possible to the methodology and surface textures of the original buildings they reference, and to weather in the same way, given their location on the Corniche, where sunlight, sea and sand are all factors the built environment has to contend with," Dawood explained.

The artist spent a lot of time with his own children in playgrounds to observe how kids interact with space before creating his designs.

In addition, Dawood tried to think about the relationship of scale between adults and their built environment, as well as children and environments especially built for them.

"One of the key concepts I wanted to put forward was proportionality, and so I designed the playground to be oversize, which meant it had the same scale for the children who would come to use it as that of the adults in relation to the original buildings that the playground references," he said.

The artist's aim was for Doha Modern Playground to function as a "miniature city".

"I wanted kids to be able to imagine the playground as a miniature city designed especially for them – and this extended to the benches, the topography and the choice of colours for the rubber matting, which I used to echo the layers of sand, sea, and greenery that already frame the environment in Doha," Dawood added.

Each of the buildings was reimagined to feature "key play functions" associated with playgrounds, such as slides, swings and tunnels, and Dawood also wanted the designs to be spaces where children could let their imaginations run free.

Some of the playground's miniature buildings can be directy compared to their real-life counterparts.

"There are also direct sightlines from three of the play objects to the original buildings they reference, specifically the National Theatre and the Qatar Post Office, which lie immediately to the north and south of the playground itself, as well as the Sheraton – a short distance away to the north-east along the Corniche," Dawood said.

"So for example, children playing on the summit of the Post Office play object can't help but notice the larger parallel architecture of the real post office, mirroring them."

Qatar has unveiled a number of cultural projects as the country prepares for the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qatar, which begins this week. Architects including OMA and Jean Nouvel are among the architects to have designed museums in the country, while studios, including Zaha Hadid and Foster + Partners, have designed the stadiums in which the games will be played.

The country has been criticised for its human rights record in the run up to the tournament. A recent report from Labour Amnesty International said that abuses are still happening "on a significant scale" in Qatar, while the organisation's Peter Frankental said that the architects of the stadiums should speak out on human rights issues or risk helping Qatar in its "sportswashing attempts".

The photography is by Sarjoun Faour, courtesy of Qatar Museums.

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Architecture studio Surman Weston has created a teaching space for children to learn about food in Hackney, London, which has been awarded the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2022 by the RIBA.

Named the Hackney School of Food, the project occupies a red-brick house adapted by Surman Weston into a community hub for the area in east London.

The project was chosen for this year's Stephen Lawrence Prize in recognition of the impact it has had, which "is not limited to this one site", according to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) jury.

"The architect and client have developed an inspirational blueprint to teach others how to regenerate and enliven their own communities in a similar way," chair of the judging panel Matthew Goldschmied.

"This bold and inventive investment exemplifies the power of architecture to transform not only the building it touches, but the community it serves.”

The Stephen Lawrence Prize is awarded annually by the RIBA to celebrate emerging architectural talent and projects with a construction budget of less than £1 million.

It was established in 1998 in memory of Stephen Lawrence, a student architect who was murdered in a racist attack five years prior.

The award-winning Hackney School of Food was built within a disused red-brick house once used by the school keeper at Mandeville Primary School.

While its exterior has been preserved, Surman Weston removed the first floor to convert its interior into a voluminous double-height space that can accommodate a class of 30 students.

The studio made the decision to adaptively reuse the existing structure due to a limited budget and site area. The result, it said, is a "robust, unfussy and joyful" building.

Outside, unused gardens have also been transformed into spaces for the children and community to eat, cook and grow food, while a blank street-facing elevation has been animated with a picture window and a mural by illustrator Jean Jullien.

"We know that the educational and wellness benefits of Hackney School of Food will be transformative for the community," said Surman Weston's director Percy Weston.

"The architecture is an enabler for a great cause, and it’s been a pleasure to contribute our expertise to a project with far-reaching impact."

This year's award panel included chair Goldschmied, the managing trustee of the charity Marco Goldschmied Foundation, along with Stephen Lawrence's mother Doreen Lawrence and the winner of last year's prize Mike Tonkin, who is co-founder of Tonkin Liu.

Surman Weston were revealed as the 2022 winners last Thursday at an award ceremony at the RIBA, during which the recipient of the prestigious Stirling Prize was also revealed.

The Stirling Prize 2022 was given to Niall McLaughlin Architects for its design of The New Library at Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge. It was the fourth project by the studio that had been shortlisted for the award, but the first to win it.

That evening, architecture studio Henley Halebrown also won RIBA's Neave Brown Award for Housing for the Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road in London.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.

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North River Architecture designed Gallatin Passive House as an extension to an 18th-century farm in upstate New York, repurposing the existing barn as a double-height play space for the owner's three children.

The project, which was completed in 2021, sits on a former farm that occupies a 163-acre lot in Gallatin, within New York State's Hudson Valley. The area is known for its many orchards and vineyards and is a popular getaway from New York City.

The Gallatin Passive House was designed and built by North River Architecture, a firm based in the nearby town of Stone Ridge.

The studio specialises in Passive House (PHIUS)-certified designs, a distinction that is awarded to buildings that meet certain sustainability criteria.

The two-storey home encompasses 3,400 square feet (315 square metres) and has four bedrooms.

Deep overhangs on each of the long sides of the rectangular volume that makes up the home provide a buffer between the interior and exterior spaces.

North River Architecture included a home office on the ground floor, while the rest of this level is mainly comprised of an open-concept kitchen, living and dining room.

This space has built-in cabinets that maximise storage and opens out towards a partially enclosed courtyard between the house and the nearby barn.

"Original detailing in the house produced by North River’s own artisans as well as local subcontractors include extensive customized storage and millwork in all rooms," said North River Architecture.

Upstairs, there are three children's bedrooms, in addition to the primary suite that contains another small office space. North River Architecture also included a playroom upstairs that doubles as a guest bedroom when needed.

"The site design links the new house to a fully restored 18th-century Dutch barn, now repurposed for multi-use events, work, storage and most importantly, a weather-proof recreation area for the owner's three children," said North River Architecture.

"It does this externally with extensive covered pea stone terraces, and internally through a schoolroom/playroom and steel staircase," the firm explained.

The playroom forms a sky bridge to the barn, connecting the old and new constructions and creating a covered exterior space on the ground floor.

The barn's rough finishes offer a contrast to the rest of the home. Its wooden structure and cladding were left exposed, which contrasts the new steel staircase installed as part of the renovation.

The compound includes a pool and pool house with a sauna a few steps away from the home, as well as a semi-detached garage for the main house.

"Beyond the barn, the clients also teamed with regional permaculture designer Appleseed Permaculture on the gardens and orchards that surround the house, which is sited at the core of the original historic farm," said North River Architecture.

The Gallatin House was longlisted in the Dezeen Award's 2022 rural houses category. Other American rural houses that were longlisted include Divine House by Landry Smith Architect in Oregon.

Other homes in upstate New York include a double-height retreat that architect Maria Milans del Bosch designed for herself and an off-grid cabin by Marc Thorpe with an all-black exterior that recedes into the forest.

Project credits:

Architect: North River Architecture and Planning
Builder: North River Design Build
Structural engineer: Kaaterskill Associates
Energy modeling: Northeast Projects
Landscape: Appleseed Permaculture

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California studio AUX Architecture has tranformed and expanded a synagogue on LA's Westside to create the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center for a nonprofit focused on children's welfare.

Named after the philanthropist Glorya Kaufman, the building sits on a sloped site within the Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services in the Cheviot Hills neighbourhood.

The nonprofit institution was started in 1908 as an orphanage, and today it provides services for kids and families facing various challenges, including autism and foster care.

The project, designed by local studio AUX Architecture, entailed converting a 1950s, stucco-clad synagogue into a performing arts centre that could accommodate the therapeutic teaching and production of dance, music and theatre. It also continues to serve as a space for the organization's Jewish classes and holiday services.

The building was originally designed by the late architect William M Bray.

"Our challenge was to preserve as much of the existing structure as possible while adding the necessary accessory support spaces for a performance venue," said the architecture studio.

The synagogue was adapted into a 300-seat theatre, while an L-shaped, two-storey addition was added to the front of the building and houses a series of flexible spaces.

"Designed to be used for multiple purposes, rooms may be a classroom by morning, rehearsal space by day and green room by night," the team said. "The building is also used as a Temple for special holiday gatherings."

On the exterior, the team added polycarbonate panels made of 35 per cent recycled plastic to the north and west facades. The translucent panels are both durable and sustainable. The light passing through the panels creates a glowing effect in the evening, the architecture studio said.

"Directly behind the facade, a series of rhythmic columns create an interplay of light and shadow," AUX Architecture added.

The lobby and primary stairs were configured to create a sense of compression and expansion.

The concept was inspired by a dance piece called Lamentation, by late American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham, in which a dancer struggles within a garment. The performance serves as a "metaphor for the struggles many students with autism go through every day," the team said.

Overall, the building's interior spaces are designed to be comfortable and adaptable.

The team chose pale colours for their calming effect and created an acoustic system that is suitable for those with sound sensitivity.

Interior finishes include terrazzo flooring and white-painted drywall. In the theatre, the team used medium-density fibreboard with a white oak veneer for slats lining the walls and ceiling.

Totalling 10,550 square feet (980 square metres), the revamped building is well equipped to serve both the Vista Del Mar community and the greater public.

"The venue is designed to draw neighbors to the heart of the campus when hosting community events, and to showcase the nonprofit's mission to empower regional youth and families," the architecture studio said.

Other performance venues in North America include an Ontario theatre by Hariri Pontarini Architects that features glass cladding with a bird-friendly frit and a flexible Brooklyn venue by CO Adaptive Architecture that is housed in a former industrial building.

The photography is by Nic Lehoux.

Project credits:

Architect: AUX Architecture
Client: Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services
Benefactor: Glorya Kaufman
General contractor: Shawmut Design and Construction
Project management: Gardiner & Theobald
Structural engineer: Nous Engineering
Civil engineer: VCA Engineers
MEP: South Coast Engineering
Theatre, audio/visual, theatrical lighting, security, acoustics: Idibiri
Lighting design: KGM Architectural Lighting
Signage: Newsom Gonzalez
Landscape design: SQLA
Polycarbonate wall system manufacturer: EXTECH Inc

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Deep eaves shelter openings connecting indoor and outdoor spaces at this kindergarten in Maebashi, Japan, which architecture studio Hibinosekkei designed to enhance awareness of the changing seasons.

The MS Kindergarten and Nursery is a facility for 40 children aged from one to two years old and was developed by Youji no Shiro, a branch of the Kanagawa-based firm Hibinosekkei that specialises in the design of spaces for children.

The building's architecture responds to the seasonal weather experienced in the city of Maebashi, which is located at the foot of Mount Akagi and is impacted by winter winds that blow down off the mountain.

The idea of responding to nature and weather conditions is central to many of the projects completed by Youji no Shiro, which feels that too many modern nurseries feature standardised designs.

"Recently monotonous nursery environments seem to be increasing," the architects claimed, adding that the project aims to create a space "where people spend a comfortable time in feeling nature."

The nursery includes several elements that reference traditional Japanese houses and the ways in which these structures typically respond to the climate.

The building's extended eaves prevent unwanted solar exposure during the summer months while allowing the sun's rays to reach deep into the interior during winter.

The roof also shelters a porch-like space between the interior and a landscaped garden. Glass doors lining the communal entrance area can be opened to connect the indoor and outdoor spaces.

A dining room, kitchen and other ancillary spaces are located on the opposite side of the lobby, with the two main nursery rooms situated in a perpendicular wing towards the rear of the building.

A hallway extending the full length of the building features a gabled shape that lends the building a domestic feel. A section of the corridor's ceiling was replaced with netting that the children can climb over.

Internal finishes, including a clay-like render and joinery featuring a pronounced grain, introduce natural tones and tactile surfaces throughout the spaces.

"In such a comfortable environment, children can feel the change of seasons and cultivate their sensitivity by themselves," the studio suggested.

"At the same time they can have chances to touch local materials and learn its culture," it added.

The building's chunky timber frame has been left exposed and is complemented by the wood used for the ceilings, storage, cabinetry, and wooden tiles applied to the bathroom walls.

Hibinosekkei was founded in 1972 and launched the Youji no Shiro office in 1991. The practice focuses on creating characterful spaces for children and has designed over 500 facilities throughout Japan.

The firm's previous projects include a nursery in Yokohama featuring a metal facade punctured by house-shaped windows and a child-care centre in Tokyo where children with developmental difficulties can play on a climbing wall and swing.

The photography is by Ryuji Inoue.

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Architect Frank Gehry has designed a children's institute for no fee in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California, which will provide social services to the local community.

Gehry designed the structure to serve as the first-ever home for The Children's Institute – a 116-year-old organisation that helps families in the Los Angeles area.

The building in the Watts neighbourhood of southern Los Angeles will contain offices for the institute's 150 staff as well as spaces for both the Watts Gang Task Force and the LAPD Community Safety Partnership.

"The campus will house a range of therapeutic programs and free services for children and families, including individual and group counseling, parenting workshops, and Project Fatherhood sessions," said the Children's Institute.

According to Gehry's studio, the form of the building was "broken down" so that it does not stand out from the single-family residences that define the neighbourhood. To do this, simple interlocking forms of plaster and corrugated metal were chosen for the facade.

"The priority was to create a welcoming building, one that was scaled appropriately to the surrounding neighborhood and one that would feel approachable and useable by the community," said the architecture studio.

Inside, the hallmarks of Gehry's typical deconstructivism become more apparent with the main building arranged around a full-height atrium that is topped with a clerestory window.

Surrounding the atrium are boxy forms that define the building's different program areas.

Double-height spaces for community gatherings were placed on the ground floor while on the second floor offices open onto the atrium.

Plenty of windows have been included in the design including large blocks of glass in the tallest facades of the primary corrugated structure.

Attached to the atrium from all sides are smaller volumes that will host smaller groups and therapy sessions.

The Watts Children's Institute, which was designed pro bono by Gehry's studio, opens for operation on June 25, 2022.

"A building design can tell a kid that we love you,"  said Gehry. "A building that is optimistic, that is outgoing and friendly to the community, sends a powerful message of support and care."

"I hope this building will serve and inspire children, families, and this great organization for generations to come, and let them know that people care about them," he continued.

Frank Gehry was born in Canada and lives in LA where he heads his studio, Gehry Partners. Gehry recently in Dezeen's series focused on deconstructivism.

Gehry has completed a number of works in the Los Angeles area including the Walt Disney Concert Hall. This year Gehry also released plans for the Colburn School of music in downtown Los Angeles.

The photography is by Oltmans.

Project credits: 

Design architect: Gehry Partners LLP, Frank Gehry (design partner), Meaghan Lloyd (partner, chief of staff), Laurence Tighe (project partner), Sam Gehry (project designer), Thomas Kim (project architect),
Design team: Precious Aiyeloja, Aaron Ryan, Tyler McMartin, Jack Bian
Architect of record: Chait Co, Michael Chait (principal), Erik Link (project manager), Jonathan Brown (project architect)
Construction: Oltmans Construction
Project management: Bottega Management Group, Leonard Madson
Structural engineer: Workpoint Engineering, Ben Varela, Ben John, Katie Chuh
Mechanical and plumbing: Schnackel Engineering, Jason Seymour
Civil engineer: Mollenhauer Group, Thomas Tran,
Lighting design: HLB lighting, Teal Brogden, Guy Smith, Michelle Murray
Landscape architecture: Elysian Landscapes, Judy Kameon, Dana Bauer
Acoustic design: Newson Brown Acoustics, Michael Brown, Ben Toews

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The latest edition of Dezeen Debate features a pyramidal timber playhouse in a London garden. Subscribe to Dezeen Debate now!

Readers are swooning over a "treeless treehouse" named Penfold, which architecture studio De Matos Ryan created for a London garden.

Accessible only by crawling beneath it, Danger Mouse is a 4.1-metre-high structure featuring triangular windows that frame views of its surroundings.

One commenter said: "I could live in this playhouse!"

Other stories in this week's newsletter include David Chipperfield Architects' transformation of a 20th-century office block in Paris, Heatherwick Studio's sculpture containing 350 trees and an apartment block in Veracruz, Mexico.

Dezeen Debate

Dezeen Debate is a curated newsletter sent every Thursday containing highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Debate or subscribe here.

You can also subscribe to Dezeen Agenda, which is sent every Tuesday and contains a selection of the most important news highlights from the week, as well as Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours.

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Architecture studio De Matos Ryan has created a "treeless treehouse" named Penfold in the garden of a London home, with a pyramidal timber structure that is accessible only by crawling beneath it.

Named after a character in Danger Mouse, the favourite cartoon of the client's children, the 4.1-metre-high playhouse references elevated lookouts and crow nests and features triangular windows that frame views of its surroundings.

"Our client was a young family who lamented the loss of an ailing tree in their neighbour's garden," explained De Matos Ryan.

"The children longed to have a treehouse but were prevented from doing so by having no trees of their own. The brief was therefore to design a treehouse without a tree."

Penfold is built from a series of triangular Douglas fir frames and accessed via a low crawlspace at its base, meaning adults are "somewhat prevented" from entering.

Its framework is left exposed and was prefabricated to allow for its individual components to be carried through the existing home and onto the site.

The modular design also ensures the structure can be easily demounted and taken away when the house is sold, which was a condition for planning permission being granted.

Inside, two levels are connected by a timber and rope ladder and lit by an openable skylight at the pyramid's apex. The skylight is fitted with sensors that automatically close it when it rains.

Triangular windows that mirror the structure's form are strategically positioned at different heights around Penfold to create a variety of lookout points and can be opened to ventilate the space.

External grade LED tube lighting mounted on the internal walls ensures that the space can be used long into the evenings.

"The unusual form and scale of the structure provides scope for imaginative play and permissive exploration," said the studio.

"At any point it can be simultaneously reminiscent of limitless dramatic inquiries such as a hollowed tree trunk, a spaceship, or a castle turret."

A stainless steel cable lattice covers the timber-slatted exterior of the form, which will gradually fill with climbing plants.

According to the studio, this is hoped to "ultimately create the sense of the tree that never was."

De Matos Ryan was founded in 1999 by architects Jose Esteves De Matos and Angus Morrogh-Ryan.

The studio has previously designed a larch-clad extension to a traditional pub in the English village of Nun Monkton and refurbished the heritage-listed York Theatre Royal.

The photography is by Hufton+Crow. 

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Our latest lookbook features 10 compact children's bedrooms that use bunk beds to conserve precious space and make more room for play.

By stacking two beds on top of each other to form a single unit, bunk beds can free up floor space and create a greater sense of privacy in shared rooms. Loft beds, which are raised high above the floor, can help to achieve a similar space-saving result.

Examples in this lookbook include a three-tiered bunk bed in a rural Chilean cabin and a birch plywood unit in London's Barbican that integrates not just two beds but also a fold-out desk for doing homework.

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing kitchens with social seating nooks, statement skylights and living rooms with sculptural furniture.

Birch and Clay Refugio, UK, by Rise Design Studio

Rise Design Studio used bespoke birch plywood joinery to help maximise the space in this London garden flat, which the practice remodelled and extended to accommodate a family of four.

In the kid's room, the material was used to create an intricate bunk bed, which sits perched on a platform housing a small play area and numerous drawers.

Find out more about Birch and Clay Refugio ›

A Room for Two, UK, by Studio Ben Allen

In this children's bedroom, two beds are stacked on top of each other within an architectural plywood structure, which bisects the room to conserve both space and privacy.

The result are two "miniature houses", each with its own arched doorway and built-in desk, while the steps leading to the upper bed double as shelving.

"Inspired by the painting St Jerome in His Study by Antonello da Messina, our departure point was to create an installation that is as much a small piece of architecture as it is a piece of furniture," said Studio Ben Allen.

Find out more about A Room for Two ›

Albergo Miramonti hotel, Italy, by Boxx Creative

Albergo Miramonti is a renovated 1950s hotel in the Alpine village of Corteno Golgi that was overhauled by London studio Boxx Creative to maximise the space provided by its poorly organised floorplan.

Family suites now house roomy single and double bunk beds, designed to prove that compact living doesn't mean sacrificing comfort or taste.

Find out more about the Albergo Miramonti hotel ›

Mylla Hytte, Norway, by Mork-Ulnes Architects

Pinewood lines both the interior and exterior of this home, which overlooks a lake in the Nordmarka woodland north of Oslo and was designed to resemble a traditional Norwegian "hytte" cabin.

The same plywood used to panel the walls and ceilings also forms a number of built-in furniture pieces, including a bunk bed for the family's two children as well as benches, shelves and a dining table.

Find out more about Mylla Hytte ›

One Manhattan Square apartment, USA, by Jamie Bush

American designer Jamie Bush made bold and liberal use of colour to help liven up an off-the-shelf bunk bed from Casa Kids in this mustard-hued room.

This helps the interior blend in with the rest of the apartment and its sculptural 1970s furnishings, set on the 60th floor of the luxury residential skyscraper One Manhattan Square on the Lower East Side.

Find out more about One Manhattan Square apartment ›

BL1 and BL2, Chile, by Umwelt

Chilean studio Umwelt designed this home with expansive windows for a young family that just moved from Santiago to the beach town of Cáhuil in order to help bring them closer to nature.

The kid's room houses a three-tiered bunk bed that looks out over the rolling countryside, while other rooms offer sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean.

Find out more about BL1 and BL2 ›

Room For One More, UK, by Studio Ben Allen

In order to add an extra bedroom to the beloved flat of a growing family in the Barbican estate in London, Studio Ben Allen inserted a full-height timber volume at the centre of the plan. This houses an office area with a fold-out desk on one side and a bunk bed on the other.

The new kid's bedroom can be separated from the rest of the apartment using a sliding door, and the teal-coloured steps leading up to its bed can be pushed back to form another small desk for doing homework.

Find out more about Room For One More ›

House for a Photographer, France, by Alireza Razavi

All of the floor space in this kid's room is designated for playing, as double-height ceilings allow the sleeping area to be raised up in the form of an oversized loft bed for two.

Architect Alireza Razavi also installed a similar mezzanine level over the home's dining area that houses a post-editing room for the owner, who is a professional photographer.

Find out more about House for a Photographer ›

Hudson Woods home, USA, by Magdalena Keck

New York interior designer Magdalena Keck recruited a cast of American makers and artisans to design custom furniture pieces for this holiday home in the Catskill Mountains.

Among them is a chunky timber bunk bed that blends in with the wood-panelled walls and pays homage to the property's natural setting.

Find out more about Hudson Woods home ›

Fahouse, Canada, by Jean Verville

Jean Verville nestled a double-width loft bed inside the steep gable of this cottage, set in a forest near Quebec.

Wooden ceiling beams are left exposed and matched to the light wooden bed and the floor, which stand in stark contrast to the home's blackened steel cladding.

Find out more about Fahouse ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing kitchens with social seating nooks, statement skylights and living rooms with sculptural furniture.

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Furry white fabric lines the interior of this winter-themed kid's bedroom, which Mireia Luzárraga and Alejandro Muiño of Spanish studio Takk have constructed inside their home in Barcelona.

Affectionately titled Winter Bedroom (for a Big Grrl), the self-contained structure was designed as a hideaway for the couple's young daughter.

It takes the shape of a 3.5-metre-high dome that tapers off into a narrow entrance on one side, resembling an igloo.

The project forms part of Takk's ongoing and continuous renovation of the warehouse space where its founders both live and build their large-scale architectural works.

"The house-workshop is a 400-square-metre space that can host the installations that we design and produce," Luzárraga told Dezeen.

"At the same time, the space is being colonised by some domestic spaces that condition it for living. It's continuously changing depending on the work that we are developing. Some of the pieces stay forever, and some of them are temporary."

Most of the materials used to form the Winter Bedroom are repurposed from Takk's previous projects, including the steel-chain curtain that covers the entrance in lieu of a door and the three layers of foam that line the dome's ceiling and its entire exterior.

Set on top of a wooden structure of vertical and horizontal ribs, the foam sheets serve seral purposes. For one, they maintain the all-white palette of the sleeping quarters and provide extra warmth in the industrial warehouse, which has plenty of space and light but little insulation.

Unlike traditional cladding or wall panelling, the foam also moulds easily to the dome's rounded form.

"The flexible condition of the material easily adapts to the igloo shape," explained Muiño, who founded Takk together with Luzárraga shortly after the couple met in 2008.

Inside the bedroom, a snowy carpet covers not just the floor but also the walls and the raised platform that holds up the bed.

"The interior space has a floor at a height of 90 centimetres where the mattress lies, all covered in a white furry carpet ready to be enjoyed barefoot," Muiño said. "Below this big bed, there is a space for storing, playing or hiding."

Spherical lights integrated into the ceiling form what the studio describes as "a sky of bulbs", designed to create the impression of looking up at the stars.

Takk recently constructed another self-contained bedroom as part of an apartment renovation in Madrid, where the communal sleeping quarters are perched on stilts.

For more creative kids' bedrooms, see our lookbook of ten contemporary children's bedrooms.

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Students in grade three and four at New York's Trinity School have created a collection of wooden chairs that express their individual personalities, in a module run by art educator Bruce Edelstein.

Each year, Edelstein gives the seven- to ten-year-olds a simple brief: to build a chair for themselves that is unique to them, using only pinewood planks. Previous examples made by Edelstein's students include chairs with horns and an alligator chair.

Across a series of weekly hour-long sessions, he leads them in a process that involves ideation, sketching, building scale models from paper, cutting and nailing wood, and then decorating their designs.

The chairs produced by the Trinity School children in the autumn 2021 semester include ones that look like fantastical beasts, chairs that take an abstract approach to form and several that make creative use of masking tape.

Edelstein, a trained sculptor, has been running the workshop for more than 18 years, and it has taken on a legendary status among the students, some of who still have their handiwork at home when they graduate.

In a break from tradition, this cohort of students includes both the usual grade three students plus students from grade four, whose classes had been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic a year earlier.

During this period, Edelstein adapted the workshop for online learning, having the children do the whole design process up to the woodworking stage from home and adding an additional exercise where they would create an environment for the chair within a shoebox.

"We started by talking about the same ideas, of looking around you seeing that someone created all these things, whether it's a faucet in your bathroom or a light fixture, that the whole idea of design is something we live in all the time, that they can participate in," Edelstein told Dezeen.

"I didn't get as involved with the question of could you actually make it," he continued. "When we're making it in wood, there are certain things you have to learn about how to connect the wood, whether it's glueing and nailing, or using triangles to reinforce things like the leg against the seat."

Because the students were keen to give their designs physical form once in-person learning returned, Edelstein had them join the following year's class for the woodworking component.

The combined cohort's designs include chairs that look like a cyclops, a dragon, a swan and an outer-space chair. Others take a less literal approach.

One chair, with one plank that reaches and bends high into the air, was inspired by ballet. Two students had initially wanted to do the same ballet theme, and Edelstein encouraged them to differentiate their designs.

"I said, ballet is a wonderful idea, but what is it about ballet that you love?" he explained.

"Can you take some of the ideas or the shapes that you would think of that are important to you and use them? Is it possible to think of it a little more abstractly?"

"And she said, well, this is how I would stand in ballet – and she put her arm up like that," he added. "And I said, well, can we do that with wood?"

The chair ended up being an abstract interpretation of the movements and postures of ballet, with one triangle-shaped leg symbolising the bent leg of a plié.

A number of the children explored hybrid forms in their designs, combining their seating with shelves, desks or hooks to hang things on, often inspired by their own interests, such as the idea of having a dedicated spot for drawing.

One chair, with a small arched entryway cut into the base, was intended as a place where a child could hide. The aforementioned cyclops chair has a shelf that is also a mouth full of pointed teeth, so it is both highly functional and creates a visual gag when people place their hands in it.

Some of the designs are more simple in form and come alive in the decoration, such as a shelf-bench painted in flat planes of blue, pink and – underneath – yellow.

"When she added the colour I fell in love with it," said Edelstein. "Because when you see it in real life, it glows from the bottom of it. You say, 'is there a light down there?' It reminds me of a Dan Flavin sculpture. It's quite contemporary."

When it comes to decoration, Edelstein briefly showed the children a variety of techniques such as staining, but he said that often they already had clear ideas of what they wanted to achieve with the decoration.

"If they have an idea about how to do something, and they have the confidence, you see them really experiment with materials to bring out the best in something," he said. "They'll try to get what they're really interested in getting, even at this age."

Edelstein thinks it's the idiosyncrasy of the chairs that makes them so memorable, and sees a lesson in the children's approach for grown-up designers.

"Allowing personal nuances to come out in your work is really important," he said. "And that's what you see with these kids. They're very much in touch with their feelings at this point in their lives."

"They're not holding themselves back," he added. "They're not editing themselves. They're not wondering if it's silly or not. I think as an adult, you look at them and you realise, maybe we can let go a little bit."

Other recent student projects include six furniture designs by Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm and a chair made from Transylvanian mushroom leather.

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Japanese studios Unemori Architects and Teco Architects have turned a commercial building in Kitakami, Japan, into a health and childcare support centre, adding undulating floors and ceilings.

The two studios gutted and converted the first two floors of the eight-storey building using materials including corrugated polycarbonate, wood, and textile mesh to give the space a more tactile feel.

The 4,000-square-metre space encompasses health and childcare support facilities as well as a public meeting space for the city of Kitakami.

A glass-fronted facade and sliding doors now welcome visitors into a large entrance area and further into a multi-purpose indoor plaza, with spaces designed to feel more open and relaxed than is usual in commercial buildings.

"In contrast to the existing rigid and closed space, I imagined a space like a park where many people can freely interact and spend time," Unemori Architects founder Hiroyuki Unemori told Dezeen.

"The idea was to create a paradigm for a contemporary conversion of a rational commercial building, which can be found in any city, into a park-like place where people can relax," added Chie Konno, architect at Teco Architects.

The ground-floor plaza, which houses a reception and a cafe, functions as the entrance and waiting area.

From here, visitors can enter surrounding rooms for medical checkups and consulting, as well as an exhibition room, cooking space and childcare support centre.

On the first floor, a community space, temporary nursing room, indoor playground and conference room complete the interior.

The architects playfully subverted the building's original interior, which was laid out in simple rectangular grids, by adding undulating ceilings and floors.

By creating the undulating ceiling on the ground floor, the studios ensured there was enough space for medical vehicles, while also adding a wavy floor for the playground above. This floor is partly made from mesh, creating a fun, soft surface for children to play on.

"We deconstructed the existing rectangular grid with softly undulating floors and ceilings that overlap the rigid structure of the room," the architects said.

"This creates a shift and softness in the space. The dimensions of the undulating ceiling are determined by the height of the ceiling for the examination vehicle and the duct space for the equipment."

"In addition to such functional aspects, the height changes little by little, creating depth of space, also creating the shadows of the light ceiling," the team added.

The architects decorated the exterior of the building, which was built in 1999, with an undulating eave to mirror the new floor and ceiling inside.

Unemori Architects and Teco Architects also wanted to draw attention to the space's existing structure.

"To show the structure of the original building, we chose transparent materials such as punching metal for the pillars, polycarbonate corrugated sheet for the ceiling, and expanded metal for the slab section," the architects said.

Materials were also chosen to give the space, which is used by everyone from the elderly to very young children, less of a clinical feel.

"We aimed to create an intimate space by using wood as much as possible for the touchable areas so that it can be used by children and the elderly," explained the architects.

"In addition, the central entrance square is a versatile space where events can be held, and we aimed to create an open space where anyone can freely visit, for example students for studying, parents that are chatting with other parents and children, and for club activities," the architects added.

The decision to convert an existing building into a care centre, rather than building a new one, could help people reassess existing architecture, according to Konno.

"Even if it is a modern building that does not necessarily have historical value, I think that by making use of that stock and changing its meaning and experience, it's an opportunity to change our perception of other existing stocks," she said.

"I think the diversity and continuity of time created by combining old and new things does have a huge potential," Unemori added.

Unemori Architects and Teco Architects worked together on the project under the moniker UtA/Unemori Teco Associates.

Unemori Architects has previously designed an "earthquake-proof" community centre as part of the rejuvenation of Fukushima, as well as a house in the city of Takaoka that is raised on stilts.

The photography is by Kai Nakamura.

Project credits:

Architecture and furniture: UtA/Unemori Teco Associates
Structural engineers: Design Office MOMI
Mechanical engineers: ZO consulting engineers
Sign design: Nippon Design Center Inc. Irobe Design Institute
Textile design: Talking about Curtains
General contractors: Hazama Ando Corporation, Obara Construction Joint venture group

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Design practice Mizzi Studio has completed the interiors of Family Kitchen, a kids' restaurant in Kew Gardens that combines the aesthetics of the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a "botanical science laboratory."

Located in the families area of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, southwest London, the restaurant features whimsical designs such as an apple-shaped seat, giant timber-weaved fungi sculptures and a magenta-coloured Ethiopian Enset tree.

The fantastical restaurant has a colour palette of bright pinks, mushroom brown and leafy greens, deliberately chosen to evoke the plants and foods found in nature. Its interior is "a magical world," said Jonathan Mizzi, director of Mizzi Studio.

"We designed a magical world of gardens forests and woodlands, where human beings appear to have been shrunk to the size of small creatures living with nature, in what can be described as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets botanical science laboratory," he said.

Architecture firm HOK was responsible for the building that holds the Family Kitchen and paid special attention to incorporating it seamlessly into its surroundings in Kew Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

To do so, the firm used exposed timber both inside and out. According to Stuart Ward, architect at HOK, this sustainable material creates a connection to the natural world outside the eatery.

"As an extension of the Gardens, the restaurant houses interactive and educational installations which promote the research and work of the Royal Botanic Gardens," Ward told Dezeen.

"The timber frame provides a tactile connection with a natural material abundant in the surrounding gardens, allowing children to identify the connection in a simple and obvious way," he explained.

The architects also drew on the designs of nearby glasshouses, opting for a transparent front-of-house space with a fully glazed east-facing facade.

This provides customers with panoramic views onto the adjacent Childrens' Garden outside the restaurant.

"The practicality and beauty of the glasshouses have been borrowed by the design team to encourage natural light into the restaurant while maximising the visual connection to the gardens," Ward said.

Inside, the connection to the Children's Garden is continued. Here, the interior design encourages children to engage in the natural world and learn more about where food comes from, just as they would outdoors.

For example, the open-plan kitchen and pizza-topping station children where children can select their own ingredients aims to educate young diners on the process of food-making. They can even peek through red periscopes around the oven and look at a range of harvested vegetables inside.

Mizzi divided the restaurant into four colour-coded zones that each correspond to a season, a natural element or a field of scientific research undertaken by Kew Gardens.

In each zone, colour-coded signage and exhibits give families insight into plants, produce, farming techniques and meal preparation.

"The Kew Family Kitchen is a place where the entire family can learn about our ecosystem – how the sun works, how plants work, and how food is grown," Mizzi said.

"Distinguished by bright colours and magical installations, each zone seeks to educate children and to inspire them to investigate the natural world, organic produce and healthy food preparation," he continued.

The spring section is typified by a green grassy zone with a multi-coloured wall finish that looks similar to rammed earth. The seating areas are enveloped by giant sprouting plants and interactive displays that show the growth cycle of plants.

In the autumnal section, Mizzi collaborated with artist Tom Hare who created large-scale fungi sculptures in handwoven willow.

Another section is designed to look like a garden, with an oversized tree, bright foliage and colourful seating inspired by vibrant summer berry tones completing the look.

A final section has a sanitation station that helps children uncover the importance of hygiene, while also learning about the antibacterial properties of plants like lavender and rosemary.

Other projects by Mizzi Studio include a brass coffee kiosk next to Buckingham Palace and a stingray cafe alongside the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

Photography is by James McDonald unless otherwise stated.

Project credits:

Interior design: Mizzi Studio
Shop interiors: Lumsden Design
Architect: HOK
Delivery architect: Mulroy Architects
Project manager: Patrick Wynniatt-Husey (on behalf of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew)
Main contractor: CityAxis
Interior fit out contractor: Firecracker Works Ltd

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Design studio Almaborealis has created a modular DIY kit containing pieces of fabric in an easy puzzle format that invites children to sew their own clothes.

Now called Puzzleware, formerly known as Convertibles, the project has been shortlisted for this year's Dezeen Awards in the wearable design category.

Almaborealis founder Maija Nygren took cues from early learning theories, such as loose parts play, to design a tactile kit for children aged four to 12 that encourages them to make their own clothes.

Puzzleware kits include pieces of colourful Scottish lambswool, which Nygren says are 100 per cent biodegradable, designed with lace holes so that children can sew the fabric together to make themselves a garment.

Each kit comes with a chunky blunt knitting needle and a Learn to Stich card printed on recycled paper, created to be accessible to children.

"The idea for Puzzleware was born through a combination of factors," Nygren told Dezeen.

"I realised that my now eight-year-old daughter hadn’t stitched a single stitch during her time in school, and began to research the sustainability aspect (or lack thereof) of manufacturing processes for fast fashion clothes," she added.

"This huge industry is creating a vast void where home sewing and clothes-making once was."

"This generation and those to come are losing not only the skills to make clothing, but all that comes with it; understanding the value of materials and the skilled makers of our clothing, and where these everyday items come from," explained the designer.

Having previously worked in children's theatre as a costume designer-maker, Nygren was interested in creating bright and bold clothing that would entice children visually, but also engage them in learning a new skill.

"I love very textured knitting that is squeezable, like a big hug!" said Nygren. "But I wanted my knits to give something more to children than just aesthetics or protecting them from the elements  – I felt that there was a great untapped opportunity to explore whether kids could better be involved in making their own clothes."

According to recent findings, arts cuts in UK schools have led to a rapid decline in the number of students taking part in creative subjects.

Nygren hopes that introducing children to creative projects at a young age will contribute to them gaining skills such as improved hand-eye coordination, dexterity and creative problem-solving.

Puzzleware kits use the puzzle format for its flexibility, letting children extend their garments with new pieces of fabric as they grow.

Nygren also fitted each piece of lambswool with different numbers of lace holes according to their sizes, in order to avoid using fixtures such as poppers or buttons that might cause children discomfort when wearing their clothes.

"I needed to figure out how children could construct clothes in a frustration-free manner, with technical guidance, but maintaining autonomy and creative freedom," said the designer.

Puzzleware kits come in biodegradable packaging that was designed in line with the project's sustainability ethos, according to the designer.

"Providing children with an activity that supports lifelong learning and creative and critical thinking, as well as problem-solving skills, is another aspect of sustainability altogether,"  she added.

In 2018, designer and engineer Ryan Mario Yasin won a Dezeen Award for creating Petit Plit, a children's clothing line of pleated garments designed to stretch as the wearer grows.

The photography is courtesy of Maija Nygren.

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Design studio Playfool has created a set of sustainable crayons made entirely from Japanese wood, which was designed to celebrate the unseen colours within a forest's trees.

Called Forest Crayons, the project is shortlisted for this year's Dezeen Awards in the product design category.

The coloured crayons are triangular in shape and made entirely from wood salvaged from Japanese lumberyards.

Available in a variety of hues, from cedar and cypress to walnut and oak, the project aims to celebrate the natural pigments found in wood.

"We started off wanting to develop a way to create with wood like never before," Playfool founders Daniel and Saki Coppen told Dezeen.

"After discovering the under-appreciated beauty of wood’s natural hues, we were motivated to achieve our goal by transforming wood into a drawing tool."

The crayon prototypes were made by finely grinding down raw wood and combining it with natural wax, derived from the Japanese Hazenoki tree. The mixture was then poured into a crayon-shaped silicon mould.

"We were fascinated by how reworking the material into a formless substance allowed us to appreciate it not for its shape or strength but purely for its colour," the studio said.

Playfool sourced the wood from a lumberyard in the forested city of Hida, which is in Japan's Gifu prefecture.

"At the lumberyard, we were amazed at the vast spectrum of hues the forest has to offer and immediately understood how the colour of wood is so much more than simply brown," the designers explained.

The project began as part of a residency programme called the Wood Change Camp that focusses on finding alternative applications for Japanese wood, as two-thirds of Japan is covered in forests.

"In order to maintain the health of Japan’s forests, trees must undergo a continuous cycle of harvesting and replanting to lower the risk of disasters such as landslides," the studio said.

"However, due to increasingly cheap import costs, the country must deal with an abundance of wood, and although some of it is used for architecture or furniture, much of it is still left unappreciated," the studio added.

Through the project, Playfool sought to celebrate the richness of colours found in Japanese wood while contributing to the healthy maintenance of the country's trees.

The project was informed by the notion of Responsible Consumption and Production, one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals that were established in 2015 in response to the climate crisis.

"Forest Crayons act as a powerful communication tool in promoting awareness for Japan’s forests," concluded the designers.

"By emphasising this unexpected aspect of wood, we hope the project can reinvigorate a passion for nature and inspire people to continue maintaining and caring for the forests for future generations."

Playfool is a London and Tokyo-based design studio that aims to take a play-based approach to design and engineering.

Other projects shortlisted in 2021 Dezeen Awards include House of Nature, an all-timber school building in Denmark by Aarhus-based studio ReVærk.

The photography is by Shot by Kusk.

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Toy designer Luca Boscardin has transformed his colourful line drawings of wild animals into abstract life-sized steel versions for a public playground in Amsterdam.

Called Animal Factory, the project includes four sculptures made of metal tubes that are shaped like a giraffe, a crocodile, a gorilla and a wolf.

Each steel sculpture is designed to echo the life-sized proportions of the animal that they represent, and is painted in a single bold colour.

The outdoor playground is located at the city's NDSM Wharf, a former shipyard on the banks of the River IJ that has developed into one of Amsterdam's cultural hotspots.

"The idea behind the project was to create a bridge between fantasy and reality, natural and industrial," Boscardin told Dezeen.

"While from a certain angle the steel constructions do not seem to have specific shapes, when looking from another place the contours of, for example, a gorilla, are clearly visible. In this way, the animals form surprises in the industrial landscape," continued the designer.

Boscardin's project is the winner of the NDSM Open Call, an annual competition that invites creatives to submit a proposal for a public art project to be displayed on the wharf.

Animal Factory aims to be a versatile and interactive installation, which can be used not only as climbing frames for children, but also as an alternative place for adults to exercise or store their bikes.

Boscardin's initial design process began with sketching out a collection of colourful animals in minimal lines, which were then translated into sculptures with the assistance of steel carpenter Iwan Snel.

The toy designer explained that the way children communicate in simple universal signs and their ability to let their imaginations run wild have influenced much of his playful work.

"All children know that a red car is a Ferrari or a stick in your hand is a sword," said Boscardin, an Italian toy designer and illustrator based in Amsterdam.  "In the same way, a few simple and tall yellow lines are a giraffe, and a green animal with a big mouth is a crocodile."

Playgrounds are ideal projects for designers to be fun and imaginative. Others that have recently completed include a sky-blue collection of repurposed wave breakers in New York's Jamestown, and a minimal playground built to encourage tactile exploration in Changzhou, China.

The photography is by Tim Stet.

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House-shaped openings and cheerful hues are found in a New York daycare centre designed by American firms BAAO and 4|MATIV.

The Mi Casita Preschool and Cultural Center is located within a new mixed-use development in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood. The 3,500-square-foot (325-square-metre) space was designed collaboratively by local firms BAAO and 4|MATIV.

The goal was to create a space that embodied the school's mission of being a "home away from home" and celebrated the different cultures that coexist in Brooklyn.

The centre features several rooms that are loosely organised around an L-shaped trough, which functions as both a bathroom sink and a social gathering spot. Natural light flows in through large, street-facing windows.

The space features simple and clean finishes, including white walls and pale maple flooring. Pops of colour are incorporated throughout.

"Colour is used for dramatic effect throughout the space," the team said. "Turquoise on the ceiling and light globes give the sense of being under a bright blue sky."

The blue is paired with splashes of sherbet orange, which is found on walls in the main area and in a stairwell leading down to a co-working space for parents.

The school's mission inspired the development of graphic elements that relate to home and the city. In the bathroom, for instance, the team installed tilework that resembles a collection of buildings.

"A graphic in shades of pale blue in the tile mosaic around the bathroom and trough sink references the city skyline and is echoed as a linear element in the window treatment," the team said.

In other areas, the designers created wall cutouts that are shaped like gabled houses. The openings serve as passageways and child-sized reading nooks.

On the mezzanine, a house-shaped cutout holds seasonal displays that relate to the curriculum.

Movable furniture allows the nursery to be reconfigured for special events, including performances organised by an artist-in-residence.

This isn't the first time that BAAO, formerly known as BFDO, and 4|MATIV have collaborated. The two firms previously worked together on the Maple Street School in Brooklyn, which features soft pastel tones and an abundance of wood.

The photography is by Lesley Unruh.

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A doughnut-shaped timber "ark" filled with animal sculptures sits at the centre of the recently opened ANOHA children's museum at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Architecture studio Olson Kundig designed the museum, which is an addition to the Daniel Libeskind-designed Jewish Museum Berlin, to be a space for "discovery, exploration and play".

Set opposite the existing museum's building, ANOHA was built within a brutalist former flower market. The architect's concept aims to use the story of Noah's ark as an accessible way of understanding issues of climate change.

Originally called Arche Noah – Noah's ark in German – the name was changed to ANOHA to be easier for visitors of all ages to pronounce.

The 1960s concrete market hall was left largely untouched, with a contrasting timber structure inserted within the concrete frame.

"The 585-square-meter ark is inspired by two seemingly disparate sources: an ancient Sumerian text that describes a circular ark, and Space Station V, a ship from Stanley Kubrik's film 2001: A Space Odyssey," said the studio.

"The warm, curvilinear ark offers a softening counterpoint to the rectilinear brutalist structure of the existing hall, while the structural ribs within the ark echo the concrete ribbing that frames the skylights overhead."

Before entering the ark, an immersive space designed by artist Wolfram Spyra evokes the feeling of being underwater through a series of educational exhibits, representative of the story of the flood from the Torah.

This leads into the ark itself, where a variety of different spatial conditions have been created using ramps, steps, interactive displays and play spaces, addressing everything from biological life-cycles to the design of flood-resistant homes.

"We designed ANOHA through the lens of a child's experience, allowing them to engage with important cultural issues in creative, age-appropriate ways," said design principal Alan Maskin.

More than 150 animal sculptures that are dotted throughout the space, were created by 18 German artists using repurposed and recycled everyday items.

These sculptures can be "fed", "groomed", and even produce "waste" in the form of coloured balls which can be used to "fertilise" the accompanying plant sculptures.

Clerestory glazing on both the interior and exterior walls of the doughnut shape draws in light and frames views of the concrete structure outside.

Doors lead out into the centre of the ark, where an open space surrounded by low platforms can be used for gatherings and events.

Ventilation and lighting within the ark have been designed to work in tandem with the existing structure, which features openable louvres within its curved roof sections that open and close depending on air temperature.

Animal sculptures also featured in another child-centric design recently completed by designer Sarit Shani Hay at the Design Museum Holon.

Photography is by Hufton + Crow unless stated otherwise.

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Designer Sebastian Cox has designed a treehouse in the English countryside that features scorched larch cladding, a shingled roof and a balustrade of chestnut branches.

Cox's studio created the treehouse in Hertfordshire for the children of a client, who now have a private play area within sight of the family home.

Made in collaboration with Root and Shoot treehouse builders and engineer Timberwright, the cabin is made from a combination of English ash, sweet chestnut and larch woods.

It sits on the lowest branch of a large Atlas cedar.

The designers wanted to create a structure that blended into the tree, so they avoided putting in posts extending down to the ground.

Instead, the 2.5 by 2.3-metre house is built onto two cantilevered chestnut beams that they called "the chopsticks". It is anchored onto the tree at a minimal four points.

Inspired by the "flexibility and strength of medieval buildings", the studio created the treehouse's frame from English ash using pegged mortise and tenon joints, which give it a precision look.

It chose the scorched larch external cladding for its shadowy quality, allowing the treehouse to recede into the tree.

Old-fashioned roof shingles are made from shakes of chestnut wood. Because these are cleft rather than sawn, the shakes have a rough finish.

A balustrade made of chestnut branches from a coppiced tree surrounds the balcony. While the house has only small windows, a central light well stops it from being dark inside.

"We wanted to produce something simple and measured that felt as though it were part of the tree," said Sebastian Cox studio co-director Brogan Cox.

"We didn't want to create something loud and shouty or something that dwarfed the tree in scale or size."

"The cedar tree is in a prominent position as you approach the house down the drive so we wanted to make something which was subtle and receded into the tree in some way," she added.

"Hence the scorched cladding and subtle windows which are low and relatively small."

Sebastian Cox is known for his crafts-based work and environmental advocacy. His past work includes furniture made from mushroom mycelium and the low-carbon wood installation The Invisible Store of Happiness.

Photography is by Adam Firman.

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Architecture firms Rosan Bosch Studio and IDOM have developed a school for a campus in Lima, Peru, in which teaching will take place in both indoor and outdoor classrooms.

The Markham College Lower School will swap out traditional boxed-in classrooms in favour of adaptable, open teaching spaces that are naturally ventilated and cater to classes of all sizes.

Described by Rosan Bosch Studio and IDOM as "pandemic-proof", it is hoped to meet new safety standards that have resulted from the spread of Covid-19 and ensure that the school can stay open in the case of future outbreaks.

"The design is to be developed in line with international best practice and to include a 'future-proofing" layout to ensure it meets the requirements of students and educators in the long run," explained Rosan Bosch.

"A learning environment based on motivation and trust can acknowledge that learning happens everywhere – and activate new learning potentials and at the same time minimize health risks," said  the creative director of Rosan Bosch Studio.

"Flexibility has been missing from schools and now it has become an important tool to keep schools open."

The 10,000-square-metre school is planned to replace Markham College's existing Lower School at its Surco campus. It will accommodate 750 students from ages six to 12 over three storeys once complete.

While helping to future-proof the building, the incorporation of outdoor teaching spaces is also hoped to maximise the children's connection to nature to improve their learning experience.

"The architectural structure brings nature in and out of the building, while it invites students to constantly move between inside and outside areas, supporting more sustainable and activating learning experience," Bosch explained.

Rosan Bosch Studio and IDOM's layout of The Markham College Lower School follows the course of a river that runs through the entire campus.

This will create an elongated form that challenges the compact block-like layout of traditional schools and doubles a barrier between the neighbouring road and the school's main outdoor play areas.

All the outdoor teaching spaces will line the school's inward-facing facade and include balconies, shaded areas, inner courtyards and vertical gardens.

There will also be a series of open rooftop play areas and large patios.

Inside, The Markham College Lower School will contain larger, adaptable spaces that can be scaled down to smaller sections using foldable walls and movable partitions if necessary.

Among its facilities will be a swimming pool, gym centre and music rooms, alongside science labs, a cafeteria, a theatre, exhibition spaces and art, drama and dance studios.

All of Markham College Lower School's interior spaces will be naturally ventilated and finished with sturdy materials that can withstand daily cleaning and disinfection.

According to Rosan Bosch Studio and IDOM, the school is also being developed to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint. So far, plans to achieve this include the use of natural shading and ventilation as opposed to mechanical alternatives, and the use of natural or recycled materials, including wood, wherever possible.

Salon Alper Derinbogaz is another studio to develop pandemic-proof architecture. In 2020, it revealed a set of offices with outdoor meeting spaces for Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul.

Visuals are by IDOM and Rosan Bosch Studio.

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