penda creates dandelion influenced interior for toby's home

penda creates dandelion influenced interior for toby’s home
all images courtesy of xia zhi

‘toby’s home’ is a café and flagship store for a line of toys. the collection shares the story of fictional character toby and his friends, who were born from the seedlings of dandelions, and grew up in the forest. ‘toby’ was designed as the brand mascot for FUNMIX, a large commercial compound located in beijing, china. penda was tasked to architecturally translate the personality and background of the cartoon cast into an imaginative scheme for children and grown ups alike.

‘toby’s home’ interior 

the 800m² expanse has tall, 4.5m high ceilings. penda utilized the verticality into employ a series of bidirectional columns derived directly from glittering dandelion seeds — not unlike those that toby and his companions came from. aside from hiding structural support infrastructure, the elements can hold books, and display products, dolls, and other merchandise.

most of the large space is left open, allowing for visitors to wander freely. a set of ramps and staircases connect the ground floor to a mezzanine level, which penda created to give an innate sense of circulation. the half-floor can function as a social gathering place, where FUNMIX can host various games, lectures, or events.

café area 

like a natural forest, the arcs work together to create contrasting atmospheres of solid and void, closed and open, dark and light. all elements are painted white, which results in a strong visual break from the dark floors and walls. ‘toby’s home’ can further be adapted via integrated LED-lighting capable of highlighting specific regions within the artificial dandelion woodland. 

the space translates the tale of toby directly into its composition 

the sweeping arc structures are based on dandelion seeds 

steps up to small half-floor and ramp 

café bar 

ramp 

spacial organization 

structure influence 

stacking process 

project info:

name: toby’s home
client: vanke
location: beijing, china
architects: penda
area: 800m²
photography: xia zhi

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom