NITAPROW completes nature-inspired 'playville' nursery in bangkok

this indoor playground in bangkok, thailand comprises a range of environments for children, each inspired by the natural world. designed by NITAPROW, ‘playville’ features four zones that offer different architectural terrain and structures that encourage toddlers to walk, climb, dive, and crawl. children access the play area via the entrance hall, or ‘the fog and tree tunnel’. here, solid wood planks covering the floor and walls form an archway, while a tunnel is created by the planks that clad the lockers and nursing rooms. meanwhile, gradient film on the space’s glass walls results in a foggy and misty background.

all images by ketsiree wongwan

on the other side of the glass, positioned along the east-facing façade, is a covered outdoor area — referred to as ‘the dune and the oasis’. here, children can play in the sand pit or jump on the trampoline. next, the ‘transition hall’ features a raised wooden platform that creates an elevated terrain for climbing and sliding, while forming an intimate hideaway beneath it. the elevated structure is physically connected to the main play area with two wooden arched portals at one end, while it shares a visual connection to the covered outdoor zone at the other.

finally, in the main play area, NITAPROW sought to create a series of continuous circulation loops. pieces of custom foam block come together to form topographically inspired ball pits filled with thousands of translucent spheres. ‘natural light plays one of the most important role in this part of our design process,’ says the design team. ‘multiple skylight planes are placed evenly throughout the main play area to resemble the illumination and the direction of sunlight from the sky above.’ 

as most of the exterior walls face the strong southern and western sunlight, the building’s large glass façades are shielded by loosely-threaded felt pieces suspended from the ceiling. these ‘pixels’ transition from squares at the top of the window to circles at its base, creating an ever-changing composition that depicts images of the natural landscape as well as wild creatures. ‘the scale and the subtlety of the entire screen challenge the viewers to take a step back, as the big picture would only become clearer with the right distance and perspective,’ explains NITAPROW.

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name: playville
architects: NITAPROW
location: bangkok, thailand
project team: nita yuvaboon, prow puttorngul, kuakunya maneepairoj, piyaporn rattananukul, chatchai chaipara, and pintusorn chantranuwat
completion year: 2018
built area: 266 sqm
photography: ketsiree wongwan
client: playville93 co.,ltd.