Activity Space for Children and Youth, David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem. By Sarit Shani Hay

Activity Space for Children by sarit shani hay

activity space for children and youth, david citadel hotel, jerusalem

interior and furniture design: sarit shani hay area: 100 sq. m. commissioned by: alrov group photographs: amit geron

the activity and play space recently inaugurated in jerusalem’s david citadel hotel bears sarit shani hay’s idiosyncratic handwriting: a clean, spectacular design combining aesthetics and functionality, which oscillates between the classical and the modernist, formalism and the concrete image. intended to provide a solution for hotel guests and their children, the activity space was meticulously conceived with great care and imagination to meet this pressing need and make the stay at the hotel an unforgettable experience. this design project by shani hay is congruent with a global tendency in interior design, which implements a new concept in the design of spaces for children. it is also compatible with the cutting edge concept of holiday resorts for families, offering exciting recreational solutions that encourage a sensory experience involving creativity and the imagination. with modern, current, concise language, shani hay illustrates how decisions concerning this play space—spawned by the need to find a solution for the children running down the hotel corridors and in the lobby—gave rise to an exterritorial island where they may make noise, get exercise, and expend excess energy. many parents choose to stay in the playroom with their children, creating a shared, joyous and interactive familial activity which will remain etched in their memories long after the holiday ends.

design of the activity space: the design of the activity space incorporates iconic jerusalem motifs, such as a windmill, a cave, and the mahane yehuda market, in which children may have fun and explore. similarly, the lion, the emblem of jerusalem, is a recurring motif in several components. the activity space offers visitors a transition route between the various stations, such as the aforementioned windmill, cave, and market.

the cave: in the corner of the room is a sculptural cave which may be experienced in diverse manners: from a hiding place to a theatrical stage on which children are invited to perform before an audience. a screen suspended from the ceiling introduces an additional function, allowing for films to be projected into the space. the cave façade is made of wood cuttings which create a relief, alluding to the mountainous topography of the jerusalem hills. the cave interior is lined with sponge and soft red fabric with stitching work which lends it a unique texture.

mahane yehuda market: two market trolleys with wooden wheels, filled with colorful fruits and vegetables, are located in an elongated wall which serves various storage functions, enabling a game of market trade.

the windmill: a sculptural object made of hollow plywood boards, incorporated as an integral part of the library whose façades bear imprinted indigenous animals (lion, donkey, and camel), the windmill offers a hiding place.

the domestic house: another station—the microcosmic domestic house—invites children to engage in "make belief" games in various real life settings: a kitchen equipped with a refrigerator, a miniature living room, a sick bed, or a blue-roofed dolls’ house. cushioned elements: soft cushioned objects are installed in the center of the space, creating a sitting circle of mobile easy chairs, which allow for sitting, lying down, and play. next to them is a lion-shaped chaise longue on which one may lie, sit, or climb. the space may be divided by means of mobile acoustic partitions, so as to create, when necessity calls, two separate spaces for two age groups, with a uniform design language to preserve the harmony.

the youth space: the predominant coloration is also kept in the second space intended for teenagers, which is characterized by more formalistic lines. it contains four numbered computer stations with matching benches. a television set is installed on the main wall, offering joint dynamic computer games. variously sized islands float on the pvc flooring—soft ottomans of sorts with hand-sewn stitching intended for rest.

materials: the materials used in this project—among them pvc, formicas, plywood, natural wood, and plastic materials such as leatherette—are especially durable and long lasting.

the activity space at david citadel hotel is airy and quiet, with imaginative solutions marked by their simplicity and a sharp, restrained vivacity of color—in keeping with some of the motifs typical of shani hay’s approach. the project in jerusalem joins other similar projects by the designer who specializes in public spaces for children, such as the kindergarten in ramat hasharon and the kindergarten in the agricultural training farm, ramat gan. another space for play, learning, and serenity designed by shani hay is scheduled to open shortly at the pediatric hemato-oncology unit, dana children’s hospital, tel aviv.

about sarit shani hay more than 18 years of design for the private and public sectors have honed shani hay’s unique talent to see things from a child’s perspective, both literally and metaphorically: to pay heed to the infant’s needs and desires and furnish him/her with a challenging playful arena full of stimuli, which sparks the imagination and enables testing the boundaries of experience cheerfully and safely. as an artist and designer sarit shani hay engages in a wide range of fields and combine diverse disciplines. her work is layered, ranging from object making to the creation of spaces and environments. shani hay’s practice transpires on the line between art and design. having received a post-graduate diploma from london’s chelsea college of art and design, she launched her studio in 1995, in tel-aviv. since then she has established a name for herself as a leading designer in her field. the studio focuses on planning, design, and production: from the design of furniture and accessories to the total planning of private and public spaces. primarily known as a designer of furniture for children, who specializes in the design of pedagogical environments (such as libraries for young children, kindergartens, play areas, and rest corners in hospitals), in recent years she has expanded her practice to span design for adults as well.

shani hay’s design for the activity space for kids in jerusalem joining the kindergarten in ramat hasharon & ramat gan has been a first harbinger and a revolutionary precedent in the design of public spaces for children.

view of play area