childrens Archives

MVRDV revives old tower as shenzhen women & children's center

project info:

name: Shenzhen Women & Children’s Center

location: Shenzhen, China

architecture: MVRDV | @mvrdv

founding partner in charge: Jacob van Rijs

partner: Wenchian Shi

director MVRDV Asia: Steven SmitPeter Chang

project leader (Rotterdam): Lorenzo Mattozzi
project leader (Shanghai): Luca Xuconcept design: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Marco Gazzola,
Giuseppe Mazzaglia, Daehee Suk, Chi Zhang, Siyi Pan, Bertrand Tan, Albert Parfonov,
Andrius Ribikauskas, Enrica Perrot, Martina Franco, Peter Chang, Luca Xu
schematic design: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Giuseppe Mazzaglia, Daehee Suk, Fredy Fortich,
Chi Zhang, Bertrand Tan, Jiameng Li, Agnieszka Dabek, Paula Vargas Torres, Elisa Paneni,
Peter Chang, Luca Xu, Yang Hong, Leo Zhang, Cai Huang
detail design: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Giuseppe Mazzaglia, Daehee Suk, Fredy Fortich,
Chi Zhang, Bertrand Tan, Jiameng Li, Paula Vargas Torres, Luca Xu, Yang Hong, Echo Zhai, Ruochen Zhang
interior & Landscape design: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Fokke Moerel, Pim Bangert, Giovanni Nardi, Daehee Suk, Jiameng Li, Bertrand Tan, Paula Vargas Torres, Luca Xu
working documents revision: Lorenzo Mattozzi, Luca Xu, Giuseppe Mazzaglia,
Daehee Suk, Jiameng Li, Fredy Fortich, Yihong Chen, Peilu Chen, Xiaoliang Yu
aesthetic supervision: Lorenzo Mattozz, iLuca Xu, Giuseppe Mazzaglia,
Bertrand Tan, Jiameng Li, Americo Iannazzone, Yihong Chen, Kefei Yan, Edvan Ardianto Muliana
MVRDV NEXT: Boudewijn Thomas, Yayun Liu, Changqinq Ye
visuals: Antonio Coco, Angelo La Delfa, Pavlos Ventouris, Francesco Vitale,
Luana La Martina, Jaroslaw Jeda, Emanuele Fortunati
lead project coordinator: Jammy Zhu

co-architect, lanscape, MEP: SZAD

co-project coordinator: Shenzhen Women & Children’s Building Operation and Management
facade consultant: KGE (King Glass Engineering)
structural engineering: Yuanlizhu Engineering Consultants
lighting consultant: BPI (Brandston Partnership Inc.)
cost calculation: Jinxia Property Cost Consultation Co. Ltd.
interior architect: Jiang & Associates

photographer: Xia Zhi | @xiazhi_photogtapher

Reference

Architecture

Arched forms enliven Central Somers Town children’s centre

By Zarkon Group,28/08/202328/08/2023

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.

Facade of Central Somers Town children's centre in Camden — It is the home of community children’s play project Plot 10

“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.

Central Somers Town children's centre by Adam Khan Architects — It is decorated with arched motifs. Photo by Lewis Khan

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.

Brick-clad housing by Adam Khan Architects — The project also includes a block of social housing

“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.

Exterior of Central Somers Town housing by Adam Khan Architects — The arched motifs also feature in the housing

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.

Rooftop playing field — There is a rooftop playing field. Photo by Lewis Khan

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.

Social housing at Central Somers Town — The block contains 10 apartments

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.

Reference

Architecture

O’Neill McVoy inserts Bronx Children’s Museum into a 1920s powerhouse

By Zarkon Group,26/04/2023

Brooklyn studio O’Neill McVoy Architects has adapted a historic powerhouse into a museum for children in the Bronx that highlights the historical building while adding playful details.

O’Neill McVoy Architects inserted the Bronx Children’s Museum into the second floor of the rectilinear building “with old and new in a symbiotic relation heightening the qualities of the other,” the studio said.

Located on the Harlem River and Mill Pond Park, the 1925 Historic Bronx Terminal Market Powerhouse was decommissioned in 2004 and the building’s exterior was restored in 2009, leaving the interior concrete and steel loft space open for a new program.

Owned by the New York City Department of Parks, it broke ground in 2017 but wasn’t completed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bureaucratic delays.

Interior of the Bronx Children's Museum with wood flooring and overhead wooden walkways — Curving shapes inside the building were designed for children

The 15,160-square foot (1,400-square metre) museum is accessed through a double-height, river-side lobby space that opens to curving forms designed specifically for a child’s perspective.

As the first facility in the burrow dedicated to young children, “the design’s flow creates a new kind of space, unlike the city’s cellular rooms and street grids, that connects Bronx kids to the experience of natural landscape and the waterfront”, the studio said.

Museum interior with wooden storage and overhead wood walkway — Ramps separate exhibition spaces

Drawing from Jean Piaget’s book Child’s Conception of Space, the studio used a series of unspooling spaces catered to children under 10 years old.

Museum visitors move through the space via ramps, and focused exhibits are separated by partial-height, curved wooden and translucent acrylic partition walls that spiral, diverge and reconnect.

Museum interior with wood floors and children looking into a window display — The curving forms were made from cross-laminated timber

The spaces step up, moving from the Waterways exhibition that directs views to the neighbouring river, across a bridge, to the Cloud performance mezzanine that features an interactive installation by local artist Jerome LaMarr called Bronxtopia.

The LEED Gold-certified project is the “first use of curved cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the U.S.,” according to the studio.

The CLT was reportedly sustainably harvested and selected for its light weight and strength.

It was “fabricated with advanced digital technology allowing for varying radii arcs to form organic space”.

“Large wall and guardrail interlocking panels, many with pebble-shaped windows, were molded and CNC-milled to exact size allowing quick assembly on site,” the team continued, referencing the custom molds of Charles and Ray Eames’ laminated plywood splints.

Museum interior with wood floors and overhead curving walkways — The project is located on the second floor of a powerhouse

The CLT panels also interlock with etched, recycled-acrylic panels that are softer to the touch than glass.

Overhead, the exposed structural beams and mechanical services were painted blue, as was the acoustical plaster, to form a sky where fabric ducts hang as clouds.

Playroom in a museum with green carpet, square glass windows and a wood sliding door — O’Neill McVoy used recycled acrylic panels instead of glass

The museum also uses translucent film on the east-facing windows to mitigate the daylight that sweeps through the open plan, and dimmable LED fixtures and daylighting sensors optimize light.

Operable windows allow for ventilation and sensors help reduce HVAC energy consumption.

Museum interior with wood flooring and a ramped curving wood walkway — Playful spaces were designed for children

The exterior of the brick building was relatively untouched but the “distinctive turrets are given new life with prismatic film and spectral LED lighting to serve as beacons for the children’s museum in the community.”

Similarly, Olson Kundig inserted a curved timber ark into a concrete market hall to create the ANOHA children’s museum in Berlin.

The photography is by Paul Warchol.

Project credits:
Architect: O’Neill McVoy Architects
Beth O’Neill, AIA, Principal
Chris McVoy, Principal
Ruso Margishvili, Associate-in-Charge
Richard Stora, Project Architect
Penelope Phylactopoulos, Meghan O’Shea, Trevor Hollyn Taub, Irmak Ciftci, Project Team
Structural engineer: Silman
Mechanical engineer: Plus Group Consulting Engineering, PLCC
Electrical engineer: Plus Group Consulting Engineering, PLCC
General contractor: A Quest Corporation
Lighting designer: Tillotson Design Associates
Code consultant: CODE LLC
LEED consultant: ADS Engineers
AV/IT/Security consultant: TM Technology Partners
Exhibits: Bronx-connected artists through the museum’s ‘Arts Builds Community’ program

Reference

Sustainable News

Durable children’s clothing brand expands into adult sizes

By Zarkon Group,26/10/2022

Spotted: Material technology company Petit Pli has won the 2022 European Startup of the Year award in Amazon’s annual Innovation awards. The brand’s pleated designs are all made from recycled plastic, and its children’s garments can ‘grow’ up to seven sizes as the child grows. Initially started to reduce textile waste in the children’s wear segment of the fashion industry, the company has recently expanded into adult sizes.

The children’s line is called LittleHuman, and each piece includes water and stain-resistant coating that is incredibly durable. The technology behind the pleated design ensures that the strength of the fabric remains consistent even as the garment stretches out. Should a piece rip, Petit Pli offers free repairs.

Alongside the reduction in waste and overproduction, reducing the numbers of items of clothing that consumers buy each year contributes dramatically to reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Every nine months that a garment is used, rather than buying a replacement, reduces water usage and carbon emissions by 20 to 30 per cent.

The Amazon award includes €100,000 and online sales support on the platform. Springwise covered the launch of the brand in 2017 and its win of the UK James Dyson Award for technological invention. Since then, innovations in materials and fashion, in general, have proliferated, bringing to fruition products such as dissolvable thread that makes it easy to recycle clothes, and zero-waste luxury wool made from recycled garments.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Interior Design

Ten contemporary children’s bedrooms

By Zarkon Group,22/06/2021

For this interior design lookbook we’ve chosen 10 stylish kids’ bedrooms featuring bunk beds, raised beds and whimsical cloud-shaped lights.

This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series providing visual inspiration for the home. Previous articles in the series feature inspiring outdoor living spaces, calming green kitchens, and living rooms with beautiful statement shelving.

Adorable House, Japan, by Form

Skylights funnel daylight into this family residence in Tokyo, which has a main living space along with a bedroom on its first floor. Its pared-back children’s room features white walls and simple wooden furniture.

Find out more about Adorable House ›

A Room for Two, London, UK, by Studio Ben Allen

An elaborate plywood structure built inside one of the rooms of this flat in London’s Barbican Estate turns it into a bedroom for two children.

Designed by Studio Ben Allen the structure contains two beds and a desk as well as playful archways, steps and a fold-down desk.

Find out more about A Room for Two ›

Fahouse, Quebec, Canada, by Jean Verville

Canadian architect Jean Verville designed this holiday home on a gently sloping site in a hemlock forest in southeastern Quebec. At the back of the home, the children’s bedroom is located in the pointed roof space.

Find out more about Fahouse ›

100.60 Apartment, Bilbao, Spain, by Azab

As part of the refurbishment of this apartment in Bilbao, architecture studio Azab created a pair of triangular-shaped children’s bedrooms underneath the sloping roof.

Both bedrooms have beds that can be rolled away to create more space for playing and are fronted with corrugated plastic walls.

Find out more about 100.60 Apartment ›

The Mantelpiece Loft, Stockholm, Sweden, Note Design Studio

Stockholm-based Note Design Studio reconfigured this loft apartment so that the parents and both children could have their own room.

The children’s bedrooms are on mezzanine levels and include inbuilt wardrobes and a bed painted in blush pink.

Find out more about The Mantelpiece Loft ›

Room for One More, London, UK, by Studio Ben Allen

Studio Ben Allen updated this apartment in the Barbican Estate by reconfiguring it to include a child’s bedroom – a feature that lends the project its name of Room For One More.

The bedroom has a raised teal bed that is accessed by a short flight of stairs, which can be pushed in to form a small desk. A chunky armchair upholstered in grass-green fabric sits beneath the practical bed.

Find out more about Room for One More ›

House for a Photographer, France, by Alireza Razavi

Paris architect Alireza Razavi designed this summer house in Brittany for a photographer.

A mezzanine level added to the attic room contains beds for two children and is connected by a ladder to the children’s play area below.

Find out more about House for a Photographer ›

Contemporary children's bedroom in London

House-within-a-House, London, UK, by Alma-nac

Architecture studio Alma-nac has extended a 1950s property in Brockley, south London, to create a contemporary family home.

Its second floor contains three bedrooms beneath the peak of the roof, including one for a child, which the studio describes as having “cathedral-like proportions”.

Find out more about House-within-a-House ›

Budge Over Dover, Sydney, Australia, by YSG

Interior design studio YSG has revamped a house in Sydney using terracotta brick, aged brass and aubergine-hued plaster.

The children’s bedroom has lighter tones with sky-blue walls and whimsical cloud-shaped lamps hanging from the ceiling.

Find out more about Budge Over Dover ›

Tel Aviv apartment, Israel, by Toledano Architects

This apartment in Tel Aviv has a plywood cabin located in its children’s bedroom.

Toledano Architects designed the space, which is laid out like a playground and filled with objects that promote creativity, to be a nook for the home’s youngest residents to escape to.

Find out more about Tel Aviv apartment ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen’s image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing peaceful bedrooms, calm living rooms and colourful kitchens.

Reference

childrens

MVRDV revives old tower as shenzhen women & children’s center

Arched forms enliven Central Somers Town children’s centre

O’Neill McVoy inserts Bronx Children’s Museum into a 1920s powerhouse

Durable children’s clothing brand expands into adult sizes

Ten contemporary children’s bedrooms

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