Description

Through an overlay of energy and animation, the café/play offering Kid & Hub combines colour and vibrancy to enhance points of sensory engagement. Located in Stepney, within the inner suburbs of Adelaide, the brief called for an existing warehouse space to be transformed into three main areas - a café, a play space and a dedicated learning area. By focussing on the effects that texture and contrast have on the senses, the resulting palette and materiality responds to how the users navigate and engage with the various spaces. Enabling adults to monitor and remain visually connected to the play space, the café arrangement and overall flow also needed to remain open, with the ability to clearly move through the spaces unobstructed and without much assistance as key. Within the play space itself, three interconnected cutouts were introduced to encourage exploration and a journey through the various zones. Opportunities to read, interact and play were also integrated along with openings that pique curiosity and connect the learning and play spaces together with wet and dry sensory touchpoints. Throughout, the emphasis remained on connection and experience.