portals
Every room starts with a doorway you want to walk through: stepped, ribbed openings that shift color as you pass.
case study · learning through the senses
wild child
Design development + site lead · Brian ScharfPlayspace · Oakland, CA
the brief
a small space to wonder, dream, learn and grow.
Wild Child is a play space in Oakland for curious little kids and their parents. The Scale Collective worked with the client to conceive the idea and a visual language: soft curves, and color used both as a wayfinder and as a way to feel different moods, with cues from mid-century greats like Verner Panton.
BRAVE's job was to make that language buildable. Brian developed the branded architecture, the approach to creative fabrication and the spatial layout, drew the cut files for every element with Jupitr Studios, then ran the site as superintendent until it opened.
- Where
- Oakland, California
- What
- Children's play space and art + learning room
- Concept + interiors
- The Scale Collective
- Fabrication
- Jupitr Studios
- BRAVE
- Design development, cut files, site superintendent
inside
four ways in.
the terraced ball pit
A curved ball pit inspired by the terraced rice paddies of South Asia: soft steps to climb, sit on and dive from.
the cozy room
An all-mauve hideaway with a James Turrell inspired skyspace, for quiet after the wild.
the art + learning room
Warm neutrals and no color at all, except what comes through the windows, warm to cool through the day and the year.
brave's role
from a visual language to a room you can climb.
- branded architecture
- Worked with the team to turn the visual language into architecture: the portals, the curves and the way the rooms flow into each other.
- fabrication approach + spatial layout
- Set the approach to creative fabrication and the layout of the space, so every soft curve could actually be cut, built and fit.
- cut files
- Worked hand in hand with Jupitr Studios to develop the cut files for every element in the space.
- site superintendent
- Ran the site during the build and kept the crew, the pieces and the schedule organized.
the whole place
Concept and interior design led by Sara Alexander of The Scale Collective. Fabrication by Jupitr Studios. Photos courtesy of The Scale Collective.