Step into Playwall — a warm laminated timber wonderland at ISF Pre-School in Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, created by Hong Kong architectural studio Eureka Archi. This 1000m² sensory kindergarten features a giant soft-wood Playwall with 36 bays for climbing, sliding, crawling, telescopes and secret platforms under a glowing water-drop ceiling, turning everyday play into an immersive journey of physical and mindful exploration for 300 children.
Children learn by playing, and they play with everything. Learning environment for children nowadays calls for a wonderland to explore and develop their senses in play. In designing new campus to accommodate 300 students in 8 classrooms, we focus on breaking down the boundaries between classroom and indoor play area for children to explore freely as they wander around the kindergarten.
The approx.1000m2 kindergarten is located in the ground and first floor of the podium of a residential tower in a busy urban setting, In spite of the 42m deep infill site with very limited access to external environment, the design sought to introduce a touch of warmness learning environment through extensive use of timber and diffused ceiling features. The specially crafted ceiling in water-drop shaped thin layer of PVC mesh is designed to generate an uniform lighting quality.
PLAYWALL is not to isolate but to connect spaces. Children penetrate the PLAYWALL via different access, climbing, crawling, sliding, searching and discovering their kindergarten. The exploration journey provides physical play and mindful play to suit different types of children including climber, telescope, speaking tube, viewing deck, look out space and pocket platform. In thirty-six bays of timber structure, the PLAYWALL gives a sense of scale to the children.
