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PLAYBOX
PLAYBOX
Mumbai, India
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Other Projects by S+PS Architects
PLAYBOX
Mumbai, India
MOVEFLOATCHILDLIGHTUPPLASTICASSEMBLYOPENGLASSFLIPPIVOTADAPTTWISTSLIDECHANGEPLAYCLOSETURNROOMFLAPBUNKDOWNBOXSTUDYWOODFLEXIBLE
This was to be a haven for a ten-year old girl.
Her parents, who happen to be longtime friends of the architects, wanted their growing daughter to have a private space. The hitch being, they didn’t want to use the other rooms in the house. Now this was no easy feat and the architects looked skywards for a solution. It helped in this case, quite literally, as the answers were right there above them. “Fortunately, the house was built in the 1950s by the girls grandfather, a structural consultant. So the existing living-cum-dining space, along with the kitchen was topped with a thin two-way concrete shell/vaulted slab with clerestory windows on all sides. This additional ceiling height was what we capitalized on. It is almost like creating a space out of thin air,” explains Pinkish. They came up with the idea of a floating cube that would perch delicately over the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room. Also, this feature did not hamper the feel, volume and openness of the domed space.
The next task was to think of the right materials to build this small 120-square-foot room. “The exercise was to create it with light weight materials. We didn’t want any civil work done and wanted it to be a completely dry construction… one which can be easily put together by a set of carpenters,” asserts Pinkish.
Light-weight rubber wood and milky white polycarbonate sheets are the heroes in this story. The structure is ably supported however, by materials like glass and teakwood rafters. Now came the job of constructing the Playbox. A row of teakwood rafters were first laid out to create the structure. On top of that, rubber wood planks (agro wood panels) of 8 feet x 4 feet size panels formed a frame defining the space. This whole construction was then given a ‘skin’, shutters to be precise — milky white 10mm-thick multi-wall polycarbonate sheets. These shutters, strategically hinged and pivoted, can be opened and closed at will. The box, when fully shut glows with an opalescent hue, allowing the flow of natural light in, whilst retaining a sense of privacy.
“We didn’t want to make the structure closed and claustrophobic. The idea was to get in this playful nature of childhood inhabitance. By giving her shutters, she can control the level of ventilation, light, and privacy by flipping the panels up and down, and placing them at any level that she wants. Much like a toy, the space becomes a playful instrument to manipulate and have fun with!” smiles the architect.
The rest of the story as the architect says… is all in the details. For example, sections towards the top of the structure are glazed in clear glass, so that the room can be air-conditioned privately when needed. The interiors of the box also see the use of the same materials as the structure; only a dab of colour in the furnishings (bed, dresser, wardrobe, bookcase and shelves) lend their character to the rest of the space.
This structure no more exists! Apparently, the clients moved into a bigger house and dismantled it. However, the good news is that they are reusing the same materials, albeit in a new design, thanks to the dry construction and its 100 per cent recyclable quality.
This was to be a haven for a ten-year old girl.
Her parents, who happen to be longtime friends of the architects, wanted their growing daughter to have a private space. The hitch being, they didn’t want to use the other rooms in the house. Now this was no easy feat and the architects looked skywards for a solution. It helped in this case, quite literally, as the answers were right there above them. “Fortunately, the house was built in the 1950s by the girls grandfather, a structural consultant. So the existing living-cum-dining space, along with the kitchen was topped with a thin two-way concrete shell/vaulted slab with clerestory windows on all sides. This additional ceiling height was what we capitalized on. It is almost like creating a space out of thin air,” explains Pinkish. They came up with the idea of a floating cube that would perch delicately over the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room. Also, this feature did not hamper the feel, volume and openness of the domed space.
The next task was to think of the right materials to build this small 120-square-foot room. “The exercise was to create it with light weight materials. We didn’t want any civil work done and wanted it to be a completely dry construction… one which can be easily put together by a set of carpenters,” asserts Pinkish.
Light-weight rubber wood and milky white polycarbonate sheets are the heroes in this story. The structure is ably supported however, by materials like glass and teakwood rafters. Now came the job of constructing the Playbox. A row of teakwood rafters were first laid out to create the structure. On top of that, rubber wood planks (agro wood panels) of 8 feet x 4 feet size panels formed a frame defining the space. This whole construction was then given a ‘skin’, shutters to be precise — milky white 10mm-thick multi-wall polycarbonate sheets. These shutters, strategically hinged and pivoted, can be opened and closed at will. The box, when fully shut glows with an opalescent hue, allowing the flow of natural light in, whilst retaining a sense of privacy.
“We didn’t want to make the structure closed and claustrophobic. The idea was to get in this playful nature of childhood inhabitance. By giving her shutters, she can control the level of ventilation, light, and privacy by flipping the panels up and down, and placing them at any level that she wants. Much like a toy, the space becomes a playful instrument to manipulate and have fun with!” smiles the architect.
The rest of the story as the architect says… is all in the details. For example, sections towards the top of the structure are glazed in clear glass, so that the room can be air-conditioned privately when needed. The interiors of the box also see the use of the same materials as the structure; only a dab of colour in the furnishings (bed, dresser, wardrobe, bookcase and shelves) lend their character to the rest of the space.
This structure no more exists! Apparently, the clients moved into a bigger house and dismantled it. However, the good news is that they are reusing the same materials, albeit in a new design, thanks to the dry construction and its 100 per cent recyclable quality.
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