Lisbon-based design firm Estudio Amatam has taken a corporate event space inside the Kalorias Health Club through a whirligig of whimsical redesigns, as if through a Seussian machine with a goofy name, and ended up with a daycare center that defies all stuffiness. What was previous an expansive hall and two large rooms has been partitioned up and redefined as a kid-focused wonderland that few others hold a candle to, at least when it comes to loudly and proudly announced that kids rule, and adults do in fact drool. Above is the visual arts room of the Kalorias Childrens Space, given a pretty unexpected, Swiss cheesy texture by a bunch of missing sections. A dynamic rainbow of colorful tiles runs up the wall of the washing station in the corner, giving small a preview of the kookiness to come.
↑ As with the space's previous incarnation, a long central hallways is its central feature. The overwhelming blue makes for a strong transitional space, which connects to the center's different rooms through a number of arched partitions.
↑ A recreational annex is covered in fake grass, and features a soccer goal that's a few sizes too small, with a ceiling of diagonal rectangular volumes overhead.
↑ The daycare's largest space is a multipurpose room used for birthday parties, karate glasses, plays, and the like. A lightning bolt-shaped lighting fixture runs through the ceiling, while a few stripes of color run parallel on the floor, leading into a mountain of blocks in the corner.
↑ In the reading room, which would be the most neutral space of the bunch if it weren't for the floor pattern, an amphitheater fades into the black-painted wall, creating a seating area for readings and screenings. A staggered array of square cubbies holds the center's modest library.
· Estudio Amatam Refurbishes Kalorias Childrens Space Into Playful Retreat [Design Boom]
· All architectural craziness coverage [Curbed National]